


The 100: Insanity

by NoLifeKing



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fix it fic!, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 27
Words: 88,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoLifeKing/pseuds/NoLifeKing
Summary: This is a complete rewrite of the 100 canon. Designed to make the adults more redeemable, and the character relationships more developed and believable. There is a new original character that the story is told through. Season 1 stays closer to the source material. Hope to post about 10,000 words a week.
Relationships: Finn Collins & Clarke Griffin, Monty Green/Harper McIntyre, OC/Clarke Griffin, OC/Harper McIntyre, OC/Raven Reyes, Original Character - Relationship
Kudos: 7





	1. Meeting Matt Kane

**Author's Note:**

> This is a complete rewrite of the 100 canon. Designed to make the adults more redeemable, and the character relationships more developed and believable. There is a new original character that the story is told through. Season 1 stays closer to the source material. Hope to post about 10,000 words a week.

"We were all born in space, do you know what that means?" Grace asked her son.  


"Yeah Mom. It means these philosophy notes have been read several times by several generations, and subsequently ignored by all my predecessors. But that doesn't mean I'm not taking them seriously," replied Matt.  


He had had a fairly long day, from his morning sparring sessions with Pike, to his 1st apprenticeship in Medical, to his 2nd apprenticeship in Engineering, and now back home reading Sun Tzu for the millionth time. The Ark didn't offer a lot of reading material, so he had to make do with a genius philosopher from millennia ago. But he was always willing to spend time with his mom, especially since it was better than spending time with his father, the Chief of Security.  


"Matthew Kane, are you sassing your mother?" Grace asked impatiently.  


"Did that sound like sass? Huh, did THAT sound like sass? I guess so. Okay mom, so we were all born in space, why don't we go back down to Earth? We have been up here 97 years. You have said it yourself, we have all adapted to the radiation from the sun. We can survive down there, so why stay here? I mean, it sucks here. I only have 3 books to read, I can only kick Pike's ass so many times, I have no friends because my father floated all their parents and they blame me for it. So why not just hop on an Exodus ship and fly on down?" Matt asked.  


"You know it's more complicated than that. Just because our bodies won't die from the radiation, doesn't mean we can LIVE. We don't know how hospitable the land actually is. Can it grow food? What about the water supply? What about the air? We still breathe oxygen, what if the air is toxic? Come on son, think." Grace challenged him.  


Grace was Kane's mother, of Chinese descent. She was named after Bruce Lee's mother, Bruce having developed a cult following even on the Ark, and there was no bigger fan at the moment than Matt. She was a scientist that had discovered the Earth was in all likelihood survivable for the people of the Ark. But there were mitigating factors that prevented them from going back, even preventing her from going public. "Mitigating factors" being politics and nothing else.  


"I can answer most of those. If the land doesn't supply food, we have our hydroponic farms, if the water is bad, we have our own hydro generators. As for the air, ehh. We do have oxygenators, but we would have to be indoors for that to work, and we can't live on an Exodus ship. That's definitely a valid concern. But the fact is, we don't have a solution to it, now or ever. At some point, we are gonna have to take that risk." Matt hit back.  


"Take what risk? We can survive up here forever. Why risk lives?" Grace asked again.  


"You know that's not true Mom. There are already rumors coming out of Engineering that the Ark knows its expiration date, and.."  


"NEVER say that out loud Matt. You know who your father is, we can't be a part of those rumors," Grace interrupted.  


"I know I know. But the fact is Mom, the Ark is manmade, it has a shelf life, we screwed up the Planet, but it's still there. It can wait us out. We are gonna have to go down at some point, and if the air kills us, then that was our fate," Matthew finished.

Grace sighed. She was trying to teach her son things that he knew all too well. She knew he was right, but what she also knew, that he didn't know, was Project Exodus was flawed. There were more people than ships, and some were going to be left behind. Or maybe her son did know that.  


"Good evening, how is everyone?" Marcus Kane asked as he walked through the door.  


Looks like he had a long day. Wonder whats going on.  


"Hey Dad, who did you execute today?" Matt asked sarcastically.  


"Matt. That's inappropriate. I take no pleasure in discipline, you know that," Marcus chided his son.  


"Well all of those orphans you create sure do take pleasure in blaming me for it. But don't worry Dad, I train everyday with Pike so I can fight them off when the time comes for it," Matt replied. He didn't care for his father, but some part of him was sympathetic. 

Some of his floatees really did deserve it, but not all of them. And he would spar with Pike anyway.  


Marcus sighed. "How are you sweetheart?" walking over to kiss Grace on the cheek.  


"I'm fine dear. How is the Council?" Grace asked.  


"Still deadlocked. Abby doesn't support me, as always," Marcus sighed again.  


"Dr. Griffin seems to be the moral compass of the Council Dad, ever think about how constantly opposing your moral compass makes you look like the bad guy?" Matt asked.  


"I think about that all the time son, but big decisions have to be made, and sometimes they don't always line up with morals," Kane replied.  


"Said every bad guy ever. Listen Dad, if you just tell me your problems, I can help you. The first step is admitting you need help. Then it's actually letting people help you. Then maybe, just maybe, you can start being a better person," Matt threw his hands up in the air, knowing how futile it was.  


"I'll be a better person son, when no more decisions have to be made." Marcus said, pointedly.  


"Said every bad guy ever," Matt muttered. But he kept on trying.  


"Look Dad, I'm 16, and I can crush half, no, 75 percent, nah, I can crush ALL of your guards in single combat. Then I can stitch them up, and tell them all the things they did wrong, help them correct their mistakes, and still kick their asses after all that. Dr. Griffin is letting me assist her on surgeries with her daughter, and Jake Griffin is letting me help him with the oxygen system. Add all that up, and I know what's going on. Let me help. The Chancellor likes to refer to you old guys as a 'transitional generation,' well, start transitioning!" Matt exclaimed.  


Matt was getting tired of the politics of the Ark. He was going to push the issue, at the expense of his own father.  


"What do you mean, you know what's going on?" Marcus asked, defensively.  


"Come on Dad, there are 2600 people on the Ark, and 18 Exodus ships, each with a capacity of 100 people. I can do math. On top of that, this man made superstation has been in service for almost 100 years, and it wasn't designed for that. I know the clock is running low on time. We can fix this. People can put their minds together and fix it," Matt sighed.  


"Stop that talk right now son. I mean it, who else have you told about this?" Marcus looked at his wife, "Did you tell him these stories?"  


Grace shook her head, "No Marcus, but our son is smart. We raised him to lead, what do you expect? Of course he figured it out. He rubs up against the right people and he extracts the information. He is just like you."  


"I'm actually nothing like him Mom, because like you said, I'm smart. And he isn't." Matt pointed out. "Look Dad, yeah, I have been feeling around, there are a lot of rumors going around, none of them good. No one likes you, they feel not all of your executions are justified. That the power has gone to your head, that you don't actually care about the reasons people commit their alleged crimes..."  


"That's utter nonsense, their motives don't matter, they commit a crime, they hurt us, they hurt you, there has to be consequences," Marcus shot back.  


"Even if the consequences don't fit the crime? I'm not saying you're always wrong Dad, but you just get lucky. Your philosophy is always wrong, sometimes you walk into a situation where the punishment does fit the crime, but that has nothing to do with your methods. A guy goes on an unauthorized spacewalk, wastes 3 months of oxygen, yeah, that's a serious crime, float him. In this case, his motivations really don't matter too much, but there must have been a reason he did that, even if its a bad one.  


"I didn't float that kid, he is in the prison cells," Marcus retorted.  


"Yeah, the skybox, whatever Dad. That's not the point. Look, let's talk about a harder one, the mother that had a second child. You floated her, and you threw her kids in the skybox. Why? You shattered that family, stirring resentment amongst the people, and for what? She had a second child, it was, in all likelihood, an accident. She found out she was pregnant, she couldn't bear to have an abortion, so she had the kid. 16 years ago. 16 years, she hid her child under the floor. How terrible that must have been for that kid. And now she is in the skybox, her mom is dead, and her sibling, whoever it is, what did you even do with that guy? Have you stopped to think about what those two are going through? That kid lived under the floor for 16 years, no friends, no outside contact with other people, all she had was her brother and her mom, now she has nothing. The skybox is for kids under 18 that are supposed to be "rehabilitated" until they turn 18, then rejoin society and be contributing citizens. How do you think her "rehabilitation" is going? What does she have to look forward to in life? What are you gonna do, make her a janitor? She hasn't gone to any classes, she has been taught only what her family passed on to her, which couldn't have been much. In all likelihood, she is gonna turn 18, fail her review, and you're going to float her. Her crime? Being born. What an absolute monster. Better to kill her now, right Dad?"  


"That is not fair," Marcus started. "I didn't have that kid, and I didn't hide her under the floor for 16 years. I'm not responsible for the crimes people commit."  


"Stop trying to absolve yourself of responsibility, Kane," Matt stopped him. "You are the Chief of Security, and a member of the Council, you are responsible for the safety of every person on the Ark. Your solution to everything can't be to float them and be done with it. I'm asking you a serious question, what are you going to do about that girl you orphaned?"  


"Her name is Octavia Blake. And I haven't thought about it," Kane replied.  


"Why not? Didn't I just say you are responsible for her? Listen, how about this. Put her up for adoption. Someone will take her in. What about the Griffins? What about us?"  


"That's not a bad idea, Marcus." Grace jumped in. So many of those kids in the skybox are orphans. Adoption is viable. I don't think any of them are jumping at the chance to call you their father, but there are couples out there with no kids, even couples with a kid. Sibling relationships are a strong part of successful societies, and they don't exist in ours. It doesn't have to be that way."  


Marcus looked at his wife and sighed. Matt could tell he was getting through, just a little bit more of a push.  


"How many orphans are in the skybox? A dozen?" Matt pressed on.  


"More than that, probably between 30 and 40. We would have to have some kind of qualification system. Only the ones that passed could be put up for adoption, and even then, there is no guarantee anyone would want them," Marcus replied.  


"Don't worry about that, not everyone is like you Kane. Have them talk to a psychologist, see how they are doing. Most of them will undoubtedly fail, they are teenagers after all. None of them are going to want to partake in any kind of game that they perceive is being played at their expense, and you have literally zero credibility. But a lot of them would be better off out of that box and with good people."  


Marcus nodded. "Okay, I'll take it to the Council tomorrow. I think they will be receptive."  


"The fact that you are bringing the idea of adoption to the table will be shocking enough for them, I'm sure they will be on board. Formulate a plan. First identify all the orphans, then establish the criteria for adoption. Obviously murder diaqualifies you. Spacewalking, well, that's a Council decision. You are going to have to figure out the crime to draw the line at. Then send a shrink in to interview them, that will be the worst part for most of them. Sort through the list, and take it to the people. Ask for volunteers. There will be volunteers, sort through them. Interview them all, select the best candidates. Then match them up, have the two sides meet, also a potential bump in the road. If everything checks out, release the kids, on a probationary term. Are you writing this down? This isn't too hard, but you suck at this Dad. Let the Chancellor and Dr. Griffin take the lead," Matt finished.  


"Well son, remind me again, which one of us is on the Council? If there is nothing else, I'm tired. I'd like to go to bed." Marcus sighed.  


"Yeah, fine. We will deal with your bigger problems tomorrow. Just make sure to actually present this to the Council. It's your first, very small step to being a good person again," Matt waved him off.  


As his father retired to his room, Matt sat down next to his mom, letting out a sigh. "I can't believe he agreed. Think he did it just so he could run to bed?" Matt asked.  


Grace chuckled. "You were pretty hard on him, did something get into you today? I know talking about Earth and Project Exodus frustrates you. But that's not your father's fault, it's not even his area of expertise."  


"Which is why he shouldn't be on the Council. We are sitting up here, waiting for our air to run out Mom. We need to be working on a way back down, collectively. The Earth is survivable for us, we need to send a team of volunteers. Wanna go?" Matt smiled.  


"You know that I would be on the first dropship down Matt. But he will never agree to that," Grace sighed.  


"His agreement isn't required. He is the Chief of Security, not the Chancellor. And the fact that he is second in line should scare all of us. If we can get to the ground, we can reform our society completely. Start over. No more executions. No more rations. No more population control. A new start, under new leadership. We can be free. We can do it right this time," Matt dreamed.  


"You are letting your dreams run wild, Matt. Instead of thinking about what we will do once we are there, let's think about how we get all of us down there. Project Exodus is flawed, remember," his mom whispered.  


Matt sighed again. "You are right Mom. I shouldn't think about starting over when all of us might not make it down there. I'll work on a solution to that first. I don't suppose you have any ideas yourself?"  


"If I had an idea to solve Exodus, we wouldn't have talked about adoption tonight," his mom laughed. "But in all seriousness Matt, that was really good tonight. You got through to him, you were on the right side, you had a great idea, and its going to make the Ark a better place. Those kids deserve a second chance. Octavia deserves to live a good life. I say that with pride."  


"Thanks Mom. I'll work on Exodus. Lets go to bed," Matt said, standing up.  


Grace rose and started walking towards her room.  


"Hey Mom?"  


She stopped and turned.  


"Do you know how much time we have?" Matt looked at her intently.  


"No son, I don't," she sighed. He kept looking at her, knowing that wasn't enough.  


"I would guess a year, at most. Please don't spread rumors Matt. It doesn't help," Grace whispered.  


"I won't Mom. And don't worry, we will figure something out," Matt finished, heading to his room as his mom looked on. Something was definitely stirring inside of him, she needed to get behind him, figure out a way to spur him forward.  



	2. Sparring with Charles Pike

Matt knocked away the incoming punch and glided to his left, moving in closer for his lethal sidekick, which he loved. But Pike was ready, and moved back, out of range. Matt smiled, and continued pressing forward, rotating his feet, moving his arms, looking for an opening. One slip, and Matt would be ready. 

"You are moving well today Matt! But you gave that kick away, you use it too much!" Pike exclaimed. 

Matt smiled again and feinted left, then right, then punched straight ahead, hitting Pike square in the face, and as Pike recoiled back, Matt pressed ahead, but instead of delivering that kick Pike was looking for, stopped and turned his back into Pike's raised hands, and raised his own elbow into Pike's eye. It was a perfect shoulder rush, and as Pike fell back, yelling out in pain, Matt accelerated forward, looking for the killshot. Instead of delivering it, he extended his arms and simply pushed Pike to the ground with two hands. 

"And dead! Congratulations Pike, you just got killed. Talking to your opponent midfight? Some teacher you are." Matt laughed. 

"Very funny. Help me up. I think I need stitches from that elbow," Pike panted. 

Charles Pike was an Earth Skills instructor on the Ark, and he regularly sparred with Matt in the mornings. Matt’'s father disapproved, but being the son of the Chief of Security came with a lot of threats from other kids, and Pike shared the belief with Matt that he needed to be able to defend himself. But after years of practice and study, Pike was at the point where he was serving as a punching bag. Matt was in phenomenal shape, he kept his mind and body sharp everyday. At this point, it wasn't a teacher-student relationship, but rather a friendship between men, despite the fact Matt was 16. 

"You think? You are bleeding everywhere man, you really should work on that defense. Being bigger just means you have more blood for me to extract. Come on, give me your hand. Sit over here and let me take a look." Matt helped Pike get to his feet and walked him over to a nearby chair. 

"You never come straight at me like that. You always say Chi is circular, be water, stuff like that. Think Bruce Lee ever came straight ahead like that?" Pike grunted. 

"Couple of things. First, you definitely need stitches. I can either administer them here, or you can head to Medical, whipped. Second. Bruce Lee said water can adapt to anything, it can crash on you. Well my man, you got crashed on today. What's it gonna be? Stay here and get wrecked on some more, or head to Medical?" Matt quizzed. 

Pike chuckled. "I'll stay here, go get the med kit and stitch me up. I got some things I want to say to you." 

"Oh boy, I'm in trouble now, Pike wants to talk to me." Matt stood, grabbing the medkit and popping it open. As he was threading the needle with wiring, Pike waited to make eye contact. When Matt looked up at him, he started. 

"When they asked for volunteers for adoption of kids in the skybox, I couldn't believe it. Adoption? No way. I did some digging, and everyone said Kane was the one that brought the idea to the Council. Which made it even more unbelievable." Pike pointed, "I know this was your idea, Matt." 

"Why? Because my Dad is too stupid to think for himself?" Matt laughed. 

"Well since you put it that way, yes." Pike said, seriously. 

Matt raised his hands with the needle "Okay, don't move." He started closing the wound above Pike's eye. "Yeah, it was my idea. But I don't care about that stuff, I just want to make the Ark a better place. I don't need credit. So let Kane enjoy the positive feedback, it helps him. Almost there, don't move. Okay, all done. Now let's clean up this blood."

Pike stopped him. "In a minute. I want to say this. Look Matt, my wife and I, we tried. It didn't work out for us. Having a kid, it didn't happen. But this feels like a second chance. If we are selected, we can have our own makeshift family. That means a lot. You gave that to us. You gave us the chance at least. I just want to say, thanks man." 

Matt looked at him and nodded. "First of all Pike, you are a dead lock to get selected, you are a teacher, the Council respects you, Kane especially. He might not admit it, but you have helped me survive his job. Kane knows that. A couple of guys have taken runs at me, and I fought them off, you made that possible. If I didn't have a punching bag to practice against, they might have gotten me. Maybe. It's been over a year now, no one comes near me. Sure, it sucks to not have any friends my age, but I've got my life, and plenty of time to fix that. Think of this as a way of paying you back for all these beatings." 

Matt stood up, "So, you ask for a boy or girl? I hear that a lot more girls are available. Which makes sense, teenage boys want nothing to do with this." 

"We said no preference, actually. We haven't heard anything about who is available or who is a candidate or anything. We are just hoping we get matched. We don't expect to be loved or anything like that, we just want to help." Pike said, as he stood up. 

"Which is why you will be selected. I gotta run, see you in a few days? Gotta let that wound heal up." Matt extended his hand, and Pike shook it. 

"You're a good kid Matt, next time I won't be so easy on you." 

"You always say that, yet here I am always stitching you up," Matt laughed. Pike pushed him away. 

"Get out of here man," Pike laughed back. 

Matt headed out, grabbing a towel as he left. Wiping the blood off his hands, he was on his way to Medical to check in. He helped in Medical from time to time, it wasn't an official apprenticeship, but they appreciated whatever help they could get, and he had proven his worth from time to time. He didn't have an official apprenticeship, being the son of the Chief Executioner made him pretty unpopular with a lot of people. He had learned to live with it, even though he liked his father as much as everyone else. He had to educate a couple of would-be assassins a year ago, but he didn't turn them in, he wouldn't give his father the satisfaction. Nor the assassins. But that encounter sent a clear message, you weren't just gonna walk up and do the deed. 

He walked alertly, and alone. People didn't come near him and he didn't go near them. Today having a bit of blood on him helped. He was thinking about Exodus and how he could solve it, when his train of thought was interrupted. 

"Matt!" He stopped. It was Chancellor Jaha's voice. Flanked by three security guards, Jaha approached him. 

"Hello there Mr. Chancellor, are you scared of me? That's a lot of security. 

"This is my regular escort Matt. May we talk?" Jaha asked, so diplomatically. 

"Must be nice. What can I do for you?" Matt didn't dislike the Chancellor, but he wasn't going to win any awards either. 

"Where are you headed?" Jaha asked, again, so diplomatically. 

"Medical. Gonna check in and see if they need my help today," Matt replied, calmly. 

"It's not because of all the blood on you?" Jaha asked. 

"It's not my blood, I think you know that though," Matt replied, still calm. 

"Ah, sparring with Pike again. You know your father disapproves of your fighting," Jaha said, as if that was news. 

"It has kept me alive," Matt replied. 

"Are you saying people have attacked you, Matt?" Back with the diplomacy. 

"Yes. On a few occasions, people have tried to assassinate me," Matt replied. 

"Assassinate? Really? Are you sure? Do you know who it was?" Jaha asked. 

"Of course I'm sure, they had knives in their hands and they lunged forward at me. Don't worry though, I beat them down. And yes, I know who they were," Matt replied, calmly. 

"Would you care to tell me?" Jaha asked. Diplomat. 

"Not in a million years. Will that be all, Chancellor?" Matt started to walk away. 

"Actually no, Matt." Jaha said, raising his hand. I have a much more serious matter to discuss with you, in private. Would you care to come with me?" 

Matt sighed. Of course it wouldn't be that easy to get away. "Lead the way, Chancellor."

They walked through a few corridors, Jaha leading the way, his security detail deployed with one in front, and two behind him, with Matt behind them. Passing onto Alpha station, Matt figured they would either head to his quarters, or the Chancellor's. Probably his. He had already deduced it was about Exodus, the Chancellor had found out he knew the problem and wanted to shut him up, or rather, diplomatically, quell a rumor. He was trying to figure out who else would be there as the Chancellor led him into his own personal quarters. His guards remained outside.

Matt walked in and to his surprise there was no one there. 

"Surprised?" Jaha asked. 

"Yes actually, I thought for sure there would be at least one other person here. My father would never approve of you and I being alone, he thinks I'm dangerous and impulsive. And to his credit, he is 50% correct, which is his highest attainable score in regards to all matters," Matt replied, rather rudely. 

"That's unusual for you, you are always so calm, Matt. And yes, I am concerned about one of those things. Do I have to worry about you being impulsive?" 

Matt sighed. "No Chancellor, you don't. I would ask what it is you want to talk to me about privately, in your own quarters, but I already know. It's about Project Exodus, right?" 

"Yes Matt. It's about Project Exodus. Sit down. May I offer you a drink?" 


	3. Drinking with the Chancellor

Matt sat in his chair, drinking his glass of bourbon the Chancellor had given him. It was shockingly good. It was his first time drinking alcohol. He could tell it was going to be that kind of conversation. Add this to the long list of things his father disapproved of. 

"How is the bourbon?" Jaha asked. 

"It's actually good. I thought I would hate it, I sipped it to appear more of an adult. Did it work?" 

Jaha laughed. "A completely unnecessary gesture, no one looks at you and sees a 16 year old teenage boy Matt. You and Clarke Griffin are both far more mature than your age. You know about Project Exodus, it's only a matter of time before Clarke finds out about it too, instead of asking a question of how, which you would never answer, I want to hear your ideas."

"What makes you think I have any?" Matt's calmness had returned. 

"Oh come on Matt. I know the adoption idea was yours, there is no way Kane was thinking about that. It was brilliant, and fair. There is excitement for it, even the kids like the idea. I know your mother put your mind to work on Exodus. It doesn't bother me that she knows about it, or that you know about it. I need a solution. Do you have one?" Jaha asked. 

"Well, I've only been working on it for a few days, but I could use some more information. Such as, how long do we have to figure it out?" 

"What do you mean?" Jaha asked. "What are you fishing for Matt?" 

Matt paused. "You are much better at this than my father, I'll give you that Chancellor. But you and I both know the Ark will one day run out of oxygen. I want to know the timeframe." 

"I'm not in the position to tell you Matt. Project Exodus," Jaha prodded. 

"Alright then, how about this. Send a team of volunteers down in a dropship to confirm the Earth is survivable. Then we can start working on a plan to bring the rest down." 

"That doesn't do a single thing to help us with the Exodus problem Matt. I'm not going to send people to die for no reason. I have to have a solution for everyone," Jaha said. 

The situation must be a lot worse than I thought, Matt thought to himself. We are running out of air, rapidly. No pressure, Matt. He took another sip of bourbon. Delicious. 

"Alright how about this. I can give you three suggestions. First, go public. Crowdsource the problem. There are a lot of brilliant minds on the Ark, use them. The Council isn't all knowing or all seeing, the people can help. Second, send a team down to buy you some time. Every person you send down is one less person that needs air. Which is obviously running out. And third, prepare yourself to leave people behind. Seven to eight hundred people are going to have to stay on the Ark for the rest of their lives. Exodus should buy them at least a year, maybe they can figure out a way to fix the oxygen problem that you say doesn't exist but clearly does. Right now, that's all I got," Matt finished. 

Jaha stared at him intently. "Thank you Matt, that will be all. I need you to keep this quiet until I go public." 

Matt stood up to leave. "Of course Chancellor. I'd like to volunteer to be on the away team, should you decide to try to save us all. Thanks for the drink." 

Jaha smiled. "Of course you would. I'll let you know."

Diplomat. 

Matt walked out, a new destination in mind. He was headed for Engineering. Things were a lot worse than they seemed, and he figured the pace was going to pick up any day now. He needed to get to the bottom of it, he could help, and he had an ace up his sleeve. Engineering was a long way from Alpha Station, and a sense of dread started to come over him. He started to jog, weaving in and out of traffic. If someone attacked him today, he would probably just kill them. 

He arrived at Engineering without incident, and barged through the door. 

"Where is Jake Griffin?" he demanded.

"Right here, what's going on Matt?" Jake appeared, with genuine curiosity. 

Matt grabbed him and pulled him aside, out of earshot. "What's going on Jake? Tell me for real," Matt said with urgency. 

"Hey hey, slow down Matt. Nothing is going on." Jake said innocently. 

"Cut the crap man, I know there is a problem with the air, I can help. I am coming here straight from Chancellor Jaha's quarters, what does that tell you? Level with me Jake." Matt wasn't kidding around. 

Jake was surprised. "Wow, Jaha talked to you directly huh? Well, I have nothing to say, they ordered me to keep quiet and I am, for now at least." 

"For now at least? What does that mean? You know your floatable right? I'm not Jake. They CAN'T float me, I'm only 16. I can help you go public. Jaha is hiding it isn't he? He told me to stand down until he goes public, but he isn't going to. My father has corrupted him, he doesn't believe in people, he doesn't believe in anyone or anything. But I do Jake. Let me help you!" Matt urged. 

"No, Matt, no. I can't implicate you. They will throw you in the skybox," Jake said, with hesitation. 

"That's better than getting floated man! I can serve a few months while we work towards a solution. If you try to do this on your own, there won't be a solution because you will be dead! You can't help the Ark, you can't help Clarke, if you get floated!" Matt was desperate. "Just tell me what your projections are. How long do we have?" 

"I don't know Matt, now come on, you gotta get out of here. Go back to your quarters, where it's.."

"Where it’s safe?" Matt cut him off, "Screw that man, I don't need to be safe from anyone, you have bigger problems right now. I'm getting the info from you, one way or another. You know I spar with Pike every morning right, this is his blood on me. Unless you want your blood to be on me, start talking. Now." 

Matt was done with the adults. He was done with the politics, he was done with it all. No more people were going to suffer the oppression of Marcus Kane. He had scared people into silence with his executions. It was time to rebel. 

"Did you just threaten me? Do you want them to throw you-AHH!" Jake recoiled from the punch he had taken directly to his left cheek. He looked up just in time to see another one as it hit him in the mouth. Jake flew back against the wall. Another engineer started to walk over to intervene. 

"Stay back!" Matt commanded. "Did I mention I was done with this stupid game? Lives are at stake Jake, including yours, I can save them. I WILL save them. Now tell me, what do your projections tell you?" 

Jake took a good look at Matt Kane standing in front of him, his fists were clenched and his eyes were burning. He wasn't a kid anymore, he didn't need anyone's protection. 

"Six months. Maybe eight, if we are lucky. Then the O2 system is dead," Jake relented. 

Matt turned his back and began to walk towards the exit, looking back the engineer that had taken a few steps in his direction. "I'm going to convince the Chancellor that you are right and my father is wrong about the people that live on the Ark Jake. Once I do that, you can go public with no risk to your well being. If I have to spend a month or so in the skybox so be it. Sorry about your face," Matt stormed out. 

Figuring the Chancellor had returned to Earth Monitoring Matt started to head there in a fast walk. Six months was about what he was expecting, but he was still surprised that things had fallen apart so quickly. Even more reason that Marcus Kane was not the one to be making any kind of decisions. He was a man that didn't think about problems, he just reacted. A great leader stays calm during a crisis, and Kane didn't check those marks, and who knew that better than his own son. 

All of a sudden the man himself appeared in front of Matt, with two guards. One less than the Chancellor, which was good, if the situation fell apart the way Matt expected it to. 

"Where are you headed son?" Marcus Kane asked, calmly. 

"Earth Monitoring," replied Matt, calmly. 

"Whose blood is that on your hand?" Marcus asked, again, calmly. 

"Charles Pike's," Matt lied. 

"Ah, sparring with Pike knowing I don't approve, are we?" Marcus asked with a smile. 

"Your approval is on the bottom of my priority list, and that's being generous, Kane. Those sparring sessions have helped me survive the myriad of assassination attempts against me."

"Alleged assassination attempts. Is that..? Alcohol I smell on your breath?" Marcus asked.

"I'm surprised you recognize the smell. But yes, it is. Are we done now?" Matt replied sarcastically. 

"Where in the world did you get alcohol from?" Marcus made a motion with his hand and the two security guards deployed their stun batons. 

"Chancellor Jaha, as a matter of fact. Whom I am on my way to go see, is he back in Earth Monitoring? I left him in his quarters," Matt answered calmly, unwavering as the security guards each took a step forward. 

"What business did you have with the Chancellor?" Marcus asked, surprised. 

"That's between me and the Chancellor. Believe it or not Kane, you aren't entitled to know everything. You’re only one idiot, after all," Matt replied, impatiently. 

Marcus smiled. Taking a step forward, his security detail following behind, "The safety of the Chancellor is my top priority, Matt. I need to know if he is in danger." 

"He isn't, unless you pose a threat to him, which is very possible," Matt replied, calming back down. He was not going to take the bait, no matter how badly he wanted to throw down. 

"The Chancellor is about to meet with the Council regarding an urgent matter, I'm on my way there now myself. Your alleged conversation will have to wait," Marcus replied. 

"Well alright then Kane. Don't let me keep you," Matt said. 

Marcus Kane backed away from his son, motioning to his security detail again, who put away their stun batons, and headed for Earth Monitoring. 

Matt figured his father was telling the truth, but just to make sure, he headed for Alpha Station. Arriving at the Chancellor's quarters, he knocked on the door. The door slid open and there was Jaha's son, Wells. 

"Oh, Wells. Is your dad here?" Matt asked, surprised. 

"No, the Chancellor is at work right now. I can tell him you stopped by though, if you like," said Wells, always so polite. What did Clarke see in this guy? 

"Nah man, I will see him later. I'm gonna run. Take it easy Wells," Matt replied. He didn't have a problem with Wells, mainly because Wells didn't have a problem with him, and that was rare. But Matt could just not figure out that pairing. I guess its time to head home for the day, Matt mused to himself. 


	4. The Breaking Point

Matt was sitting with his mom in their quarters, silent. He was having trouble focusing his thoughts, and his mother could sense his turmoil. It had been 8 hours since the Council convened, and there was no sign of them. It was deep into the night now, around midnight. 

"I love you Mom," Matt suddenly said. "I think something bad is about to happen." 

"I love you too Matt. It does feel like something is amiss. All we can do is hope your father does the right thing," Grace whispered.

Matt started to reply with a scoff but suddenly his father walked in. Matt stood up, immediately seeking information. 

"What's going on Dad?" Matt asked. 

"Did you talk to Jake Griffin earlier today?" Marcus demanded. 

"Yeah, so what? I talk to Jake Griffin all the time, I have an informal apprenticeship with him, why do you ask?" Matt asked, trying to stay calm. 

"I need to find any and all of his co-conspirators," Marcus shot back. 

"Co-conspirators? What does that mean Marcus?" Mom asked. 

"It means Jake Griffin was just executed for sedition, that's what," Marcus said, exasperated. 

"WHAT??" Matt exclaimed. "You FLOATED Jake Griffin?? He was trying to save us all! He wasn't committing sedition, he was literally our only hope of surviving!" Matt exploded. 

"That's enough! Jake was conspiring to go public, and I stopped him. He would have caused mass hysteria, riots, who knows what!" Marcus yelled back. 

"You mean he didn't go public?? So what, you killed him for a thought crime?? You want to know who he was conspiring with? Chancellor Jaha and myself! Are you gonna float us too?" Matt threw up his arms. 

"Are you saying you are one of his co-conspi-AHH?" Marcus yelled as he too, recoiled from a punch to his left cheek. 

"NO ONE WAS CONSPIRING ANYTHING YOU IDIOT!" Matt shouted, as Marcus righted himself from the punch and placed himself in perfect position for a roundhouse kick, which Matt delivered emphatically, sending Marcus flying over the table onto the ground, as his mother watched in horror. 

"You are a TYRANT! You are out of control! You have become so addicted to power that you just float anyone that doesn't agree to your point of view, which is ALWAYS wrong! Well guess what! The law forbids you from floating ME, and I am about to DESTROY you!" Matt screamed, walking around the table as Marcus stood up and threw what had to be the most pathetic punch ever witnessed, easily ducked under and countered with a vicious sidekick to the chest of Marcus Kane, who again, flew backwards and over a chair. 

"You want to know the timeline of events?? Here, I'll tell you. Chancellor Jaha intercepted me yesterday, and invited me to his quarters, where he offered me a glass of bourbon, and we talked about Project Exodus!" Matt yelled, kicking the chair out of the way violently, and delivering another punch to the face of Marcus Kane, tyrant #1. Flying back again, Kane leaned back against the wall, as Matt stood over him. 

"After that, yeah, I went to see Jake Griffin, and I extracted the information I needed out of him, and told him to wait for me to talk to the Chancellor, which he obviously did, since he didn't go public! But you murdered him anyway! The question is, why did Chancellor Jaha go along with this? Have you corrupted him so much that he has lost all sense of morality?" Matt exclaimed. 

"We could have found a solution together! But now, you have killed our best chance of surviving up here!" Matt stood Kane up and pinned him against the wall. "You have literally killed your people!!" One final punch sent Marcus Kane to the ground, where he remained, as Matt stormed out. 

His mother just stood there, unsure of what to do. She finally just sat down in a chair. 

"How could you do this, Marcus?" she cried. 

Matt was furious. Leaving his failure of a father behind, he let out a very loud scream, and headed for Jaha's quarters and banged on the door. The Chancellor opened it, looking exhausted himself. Not a problem for right now. Matt barged in, demanding information. 

"What is going on?? You executed our savior? Have you lost all reason?" Matt exclaimed. "Has my father corrupted you so badly that you two are now aligned in stupidity??" 

"I will remind you, that you are speaking to your Chancellor," Jaha said, ever the annoying diplomat. 

"Whose tenure could be coming to a very abrupt END," Matt said, raising his bloodied fist, unmoved.

"I'm guessing that's your father's blood. Attacking a member of the Council, threatening your Chancellor," Jaha started. 

"STOP TALKING," Matt commanded. He stared down Jaha, unable to calm down. He wasn't interested in a diplomatic conversation. "You voted, to keep it quiet, didn't you. You ignored my advice, you ignored Jake Griffin's advice, and you listened to Kane. You lost faith in your people, and when Jake Griffin threatened to defy you, you killed him. You killed the one man that knew more about our oxygen system than anyone, dooming us all, just so you could be right." Matt concluded. 

Chancellor Jaha stared back at Matt Kane. "Remember when I told you no one looked at you and saw a teenage boy? When I said that, I had never been so sure of anything in my life. In the span of 5 minutes, you have made me regret my decision to listen to your father. The question remaining now is, what do I do about it? You know the timeline, I'm not ready to go public, truthfully, I don't know how to go public with this kind of problem. How do I tell my people they have six months to live?" 

"Being a smarter man than you is how you start. Jake Griffin was that, Kane said he was executed for attempted sedition, I'm assuming he was preparing to go public, he probably made a video and was going to release it on the Ark wide channel once you signed off. Why in the world did you execute him??" Matt exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. 

Jaha sighed. "He was moving too fast. I wanted to wait to evaluate the situation, Kane was afraid Jake would refuse. I sent Abby to convince him to wait."

"And what happened? How did you arrive at the conclusion that KILLING HIM was the right course of action, you could have just locked him up in the skybox. You know what? I'm done. Put the skybox on a dropship, with me on it, and shoot us into the sun. Or, how about Planet Earth. Anywhere but here with you and Kane. Two tyrants, working to kill off the last of humanity. Unbelievable."

Matt started towards the door, and in walked his father, the absolute last person he wanted to see. Reacting the only way he felt was appropriate, Matt slugged the already bruised and bleeding face of Marcus Kane, sending him to the ground one last time. And headed for the skybox. 


	5. Losing Everything

Matt was laying in his bunk in solitary when the door opened. He didn't even look to see who it was. 

"Prisoner #2406, stand and face the wall," the guard commanded. 

Matt looked at what he was dealing with. Two guards, no riot gear. Two mistakes. Matt stood up, faced the guards, cracked his knuckles, and before the guard could repeat his instructions, he flew at them. Hitting the first one with his favorite sidekick to the chest, sending the stunned guard back into the hall, gasping for air. The 2nd guard backed up and tried to deploy his stun baton, too slowly. Matt pivoted and threw another roundhouse kick right to the guy's jaw, not breaking it, but knocking him unconscious. Matt stepped out onto the walkway and looked around. The second guard was standing back up, and instead of running away, tried to tackle Matt. Again, too slowly, as Matt just calmly hit him with a right cross, knocking him out cold as well. 

Matt sighed. Amateurs, he thought to himself. Walking to the adjacent cell, he slid open the window viewer and peered inside, confirming his suspicions. Clarke Griffin was drawing on the wall, and looked his way. 

"Clarke. I'm sorry about your father. I liked Jake, and I was working with him to go public in a safe way. But my dad got in the way, and floated him for no reason," Matt tried. 

"I have nothing to say to you Matt. Or Wells. As far as I am concerned, you two got my dad killed," Clarke retorted. 

"Wells? What did Wells do?" Matt was genuinely curious. 

"He is the one that turned him in, after you punched the information out of him that got him killed. Now please go away," Clarke sighed. 

"What? No way Clarke. Wells would never turn him in, not just that, when would he have had time to do that? The Council was in a meeting the entire time, Wells never had the opportunity to turn him in," Matt countered.

"Just GO! How did you even get out of your cell?? Leave me alone Matt!" Clarke shouted. 

"Well I uh, knocked out these pathetic guards," Matt admitted. 

"You seem to be good at that. I guess you have to be, being the son of the Chief Murderer. Gotta practice to take his place, right?" Clarke shot back. 

"Clarke, I'll leave you with this. I hit your dad twice, I knocked out these two guards, but that's nothing compared to the beat down I put on Marcus Kane when he told me he floated your father. I promise you, he is still feeling those hits." Matt slid the window closed as Clarke shot him a glare. The guards were starting to come around, and he returned to his cell. 

"Get lost guys, I'm not in the mood for you. Next time, bring more guards," Matt helped the guard with the glass jaw to his feet and shoved him out of his cell, pulling the door closed. He heard the guards lock it and walk away. And he was alone again. He walked over to the wall to Clarke's cell and put his hand on it. Little did he know Clarke was doing the same on her side. 

2 weeks later

Matt was laying in his bunk, wondering what in the world Jaha was waiting for. Suddenly the door opened, and this time five guards in riot gear walked in. 

"Prisoner #2409, stand and face the wall. You are being allowed to attend an execution," one of the guards commanded. 

Matt stood up, bewildered. "Who is being executed now, and why would I be allowed to attend?" 

"It's your mother." the guard explained, hesitating. 

"WHAT! NO WAY!" Matt shouted, and leapt forward at the riot shields. Screaming he tried to shove his way through, but he wasn't able to, and the guards hit him with their riot shields, knocking him down.. Matt fell to the ground, attempted to get up and got hit again, this time in the face. The guards each kicked him, not enough to break anything, this was about sending a message. Finally, one of the guards hit him with the stun baton, knocking him out.. 

Matt woke up, groggy, his hands had been secured behind his back, and he saw his mother, standing in the airlock. Realizing what was happening, he stood up and started to shout, only to be grabbed by the guards. And then he saw the Chancellor, standing to the right of the door, and his father, standing in front of the control panel. 

"MOM! MOOOOM! WHAT'S HAPPENING??" Matt screamed. 

"Matty, I love you so much. Save the Ark Matt, save our people!" Grace yelled back. 

"MOM! KANE! DON'T DO THIS! IF YOU KILL MY MOM, YOUR WIFE, YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!" Matt pleaded, as the airlock doors closed. He saw the fear in her eyes, he struggled with the restraints, he could break them, he just needed a bit more, he could save her. 

Kane pushed the button, the outer door opened, she screamed, and she was gone. Gone. 

Matt screamed for his mom, screamed in anger, struggled with the guards, and broke free of his restraints. Forgetting about the pain the guards had inflicted, he howled in anger, as he tripped the guard to his right, and his right arm came free, the guard to his left was thrown off balance, and before he could recover, Matt hit him with the hardest right cross he had ever thrown. And he was free. He had a clear path. Right for the Chancellor. Or right for Kane. The choice was obvious, he broke for Kane. This time, he would die. 

As Matt approached him, the hate in his eyes burning, Marcus Kane dodged the first punch, and Matt put a dent in the metal wall above the control panel, breaking his hand. Unmoved, Matt charged him with his shoulder, knocking Kane back, and hit him with a spinning roundhouse kick, breaking Kane's jaw. Only the start. Kane flew back, onto the ground, and Matt moved forward for the kill when he was hit in the back by a dart. He turned around and there was one of the guards, with a tranquilizer gun. 

"I hate you all," Matt Kane gasped, as he fell to the ground. 


	6. Clarke Griffin

Matt laid in his bunk. Holding his hand, which was in a cast, who put it there he didn't know. Probably Abby Griffin. Also on his list of people he wanted to kill. He no longer thought about Project Exodus, or the oxygen problem, or anything constructive. That life was over. Now, he just wanted to make sure Marcus Kane died for his sins. He didn't even know what crime his mother committed, only that she was gone, vented into outer space. He didn't feel the pain in his hand, he didn't feel. He was, by every conceivable metric, dead. The old Matt Kane that wanted to help everyone was dead. The new Matt Kane wanted every human being to join his old self. 

The door opened, it had been one day since his mother was floated, and whoever was coming to visit must have had a death wish. But no one entered. A few moments passed, and Matt just looked as Clarke Griffin entered his cell. The door closed behind her. Matt didn't say a word. 

"I'll leave if you want me to," Clarke said. Matt continued to say nothing, just looking back at the ceiling and closing his eyes. Clarke started to turn around. 

"Stay." Matt said quietly. "Please stay."

Clarke turned back towards him and looked. She sighed as she walked towards his bunk. "May I have a place to sit?" she asked. 

Matt sat up, gingerly, holding his side and putting his feet on the ground. Clarke sat down and sighed again. "Our parents got killed trying to save us," she whispered quietly. “Are you alright? Why do you have so many bruises?”

"Can I be honest with you Clarke? I have no idea why my mother was executed. If they stated her crime I didn't hear it, and after it was done well," holding up his hand, "I won that fight." 

Clarke looked at the cast, then at the bruises, then Matt. "They didn't tell you her crime?" she asked, surprised.

"If you know what it was please tell me Clarke. Please don't keep that from me," he asked in return. 

She took his good hand, "If I knew, I would tell you. But I don't. I can only assume she was trying to go public as well. But the truth is, there is no way for me to know. I've been in solitary, just like you. Because I know the truth, just like you." 

Matt sighed. He believed her. "Can I have a turn telling you something Clarke?" he asked.

She nodded. 

"I truly don't believe Wells turned your father in. The timeline doesn't fit. I sat down with the Chancellor in the early afternoon, then I went straight to your father, then I was on my way back to the Chancellor when I was intercepted by..by that man. He said the Council had an urgent meeting. I went to the Chancellor's quarters to make sure he was telling the truth, Wells was there and he confirmed it. Then I went back to my quarters where I waited for..that man. He doesn't have a life Clarke, he comes from work straight home. Jaha said he sent your mom to talk sense into your father, that must have happened while the meeting was still taking place, unless..that man..had something else to do. Which I guess is possible. But that still doesn't give you and Wells enough time to confide in each other, and for Wells to run straight to his dad and rat you out."

"It does give him enough time." she interrupted. "Please Matt. Wells ran straight to his dad." She sighed again. "Were you telling me the truth when you said you put a beating on your dad for floating mine?" 

Matt chuckled. "First of all, that man is no longer my father, and just look at my hand, I got this cast on it, but I promise you right now, Marcus Kane is sitting somewhere with his jaw wired shut. Because I broke it with my kick. Which is tremendous, by the way."

Clarke giggled. "Wow. Okay man, want to bring down that ego just a tad?" 

"It’s all I have left Clarke. I'm alone in this world. Just me and my fantasies about killing that man." 

The door opened. Clarke sighed again. "Our time is up. I'm sorry about your mom. And..you aren't alone Matt. You are surrounded by people that hate that man as much as you." 

"Yeah, and they hate me too, so, that's got me going places. Listen, I don't know how this happened, but thanks for coming by Clarke." 

She nodded and left. He returned to his fantasies about killing that man. How did she get in here, he wondered? 

A week had gone by and Matt was in his spot, laying in his bunk when the door opened. five guards wearing riot gear walked in. Must be someone important, Matt mused. Instead it was Shumway, Marcus Kane's #2. 

"What do YOU want?" Matt asked, coldly. 

"I have an offer for you," Shumway replied, calmly. 

"I'm not interested. Whatever it is, I'm not interested. Get lost Shumway. You are a joke. Don't make me throw your ragtag group of guards out of here." 

Shumway smiled. "You know, you should listen to what I have to say, after all, I can talk, and that's more than I can say about your father after you shattered his jaw."

This time Matt smiled, "That man is no longer my father, but that is good to hear. Alright Shumway, I'll listen. I'm pretty sure I know what you are gonna offer me, and the response is going to stay the same." 

"Why is that? I think it's a solid offer," Shumway replied. 

"Because Shumway, like I said, you are a joke. A patsy. The fall guy if things go wrong. You want to lead a rebellion? Give me a break. You are nothing. Totally expendable, not gonna reap any rewards. You want to make me an offer? Bring me your leader. They are the ones that can deliver. You only know what they want you to know, which is likely not much." Matt waved him off and pointed to the door. 

Shumway stood quietly and then walked to the door. "You know, you should have listened to my offer, now I'm going to leave some of these guys behind to teach you a lesson." He motioned for two of them to remain. Just two. 

"Bring me your leader Shumway, and some bodybags for these poor suckers," Matt shouted at him as the door closed. Matt rose to his feet. "Its not too late for you two to run away."

"You aren't that strong kid," one of the guards shot back. 

Matt smiled, he had learned his lesson from his first encounter with riot shields. Don't charge straight at them. They did have a numbers advantage, and it was a small cell, but they were underestimating him for whatever reason. HIs bruises had healed, his hand was still broken, but he didn’t need it. He took his shirt off and moved into his ready position, facing forward, arms raised, feet spread apart by about a foot and a half. "Bring it on," he challenged them. 

They both came at him, and he swiftly moved to the left of them both, shouldering the lead guard into his buddy beside him. With the outside guy off balance, Matt shoved the inside guy directly into him, knocking him down. With both guards off balance now, he jumped onto his bunk, and then up in the air over the riot shield, landing on the guards head, knocking him down. Both guards on the ground now, Matt kicked the riot shield away from the first guy and began beating him repeatedly in the face with his left hand, his good hand. By this time, the other guard had stood up, and charged at him with his shield. Matt jumped out of the way, and delivered a roundhouse kick to his helmet, knocking him down, probably concussing him. The other guy had gotten up, bleeding from his mouth, and charged at Matt, stupidly. A sidekick to his jaw knocked him down as well. Matt stopped there. He could have killed them, by why risk it? The insurrection leader would probably have him killed for it. He pounded on the door and shockingly it opened. There stood another guard in riot gear, shocked to see Matt, unscathed. 

"Pick up your two guys and get lost. I'm feeling generous. Leave me some water, and a towel to clean up the blood. Don't want to raise suspicion after all. I'll keep this quiet. Now get moving."

The guard nodded, handed Matt a water bottle and a towel, and started to help the concussed guy up. Matt stood outside and leaned against the railing for a bit, then moved towards Clarke's cell. Opening the window slot, she was drawing on the wall again. 

"Hey Clarke. How's it going?" He asked nonchalantly. 

She was startled. "Uh hey Matt. How..did you get out of your cell..again?"

"Same way as last time. Seriously, these guards just want to fight me I guess. And I keep bringing the pain to them. You would think they would learn. Oh sorry, is this my ego talking again? My bad," Matt laughed, and chugged some water. 

Clarke looked closely, "Matt, is that water?" She walked over and looked outside at him. There he was, no shirt on, bloody towel in his hand along with the water bottle, right hand still casted over. She looked to the right and saw the guards coming out of his cell, one of them trying not to drip blood. 

"What is going on, are they attacking you? Is it some kind of fighting pit?" 

"I guess that's a good description, some kind of fighting pit. I gotta go Clarke. See you." Matt started back towards his cell. 

"Wait Matt!" Clarke shouted, running back to her food tray and picking up her empty bowl. Running back to the door, "Can i have some of that water?" 

"Oh, sure Clarke, set the bowl on the window slot. I'll fill it up." Clarke set her bowl on the slot, and Matt poured water into it. "All set," Matt finished. 

Clarke took the bowl and drank from it, as Matt headed back to his cell. "Hey Matt?" she shouted at him.

"Yeah?" he responded. 

"Hang in there ok? It will get better. And..thanks for the water," she whispered to him. 

Matt smiled. "Any time Clarke, don't worry about me, I had fun today." 


	7. Dr. Abby Griffin

Matt was pacing around his cell, it had been a week since his visit with that Shumway, and he hadn't heard anything. On top of that, he had no idea why Jaha was waiting to send the skybox down to Earth. The door opened. Who was it this time? He waited, no one came. Clarke again?

"I'm here to change your cast out, may I come in?" 

Dr. Abigail Griffin. What in the world? 

"Come on in, if you are brave enough, or stupid enough." Matt called out. 

Sure enough, Dr. Griffin walked in, no guards, no shock baton, nothing. Matt just stood there, trying to figure out which one of those things she was. 

"Are we going to have a problem, Matthew Kane?" she asked. 

"Only if you call me Matthew again," Matt replied coldly. They continued to stand and stare at each other. 

"Please sit down so I can examine your hand," she motioned to the bed. 

Guess I will bide my time, why not receive free medical attention, then bring the pain down, he mused. He moved to sit down on the bed, holding out his right hand. 

Dr. Griffin began to remove the cast from his hand. "How are you feeling?" she asked him. 

"You really want to talk about my feelings doc?" Matt deadpanned. 

She stopped to look at him. He stared right back at her, unwavering, she could see the rage in his eyes. 

"Why don't you go see Clarke? She is right next door," he told her. 

"How do you know that? You are in solitary, no visitors," she asked, curious. 

How little she knows, he mused to himself. "We have been communicating through the wall, using morse code. It took a little while, she is just as upset as I am. Did you know she puts her father's death on Wells? That's probably why you don't go see her, huh? You can't bear to face your daughter after you turned in your husband and got him killed. What? Surprised? Yeah Abby, I know the truth about Jake. I'm the one that roughed him up after all." 

"That was you? He said it was an angry protester," she said, incredulous. 

"Ha. Lies are always believable when they are closer to the truth," Matt replied, calmly. 

She finished getting the cast off. "Try to make a fist." 

Matt tried to close his hand, wincing in pain. "Not there yet doc. Put a smaller cast on. And now it's your turn to tell me the truth. Tell me why my mother was floated." 

She looked at him, the rage in his eyes became more clear to her. "They didn't tell you at her..execution?" 

"No they didn't. I was in distress anyways, so I wouldn't have heard a word they said. That's how my hand got broken," Matt admitted. 

"Your hand got broken attacking your father-" she started. 

"No longer my father," Matt interrupted. "And that won't happen again. I was upset, I was out of control, I only managed to shatter his jaw. Next time, I won't lose my cool. Next time, he dies," Matt finished. "Now tell me, what happened to my mom?" 

Dr. Griffin finished putting the smaller cast on. "You will have to wear this for the next week," she started. 

"Stop avoiding the subject," Matt stopped her, standing up and walking over to the door, pulling it closed. "Let me be clear, I respect you for having the guts to come in here alone, but that won't save you from my wrath. Tell me why my mom was floated."

Dr. Griffin was afraid now, that was plain to see. She sat down on the bed, "Hurting me won't bring your mom back, nor will it make you feel better," she whispered. 

"One of those is certainly true, but how confident are you in the other I wonder?" Matt asked. "Just tell me the truth, and you walk out of here," he promised. 

"Okay....Okay. She was..executed for attempted sedition," she finished. 

"So, a thought crime. You killed my mom, for a thought crime. You killed your husband, for a thought crime. And you have locked up your daughter, because she knows the truth about our air. And so do I. What's taking you so long to send us down to Earth Abby? I told Jaha the plan a month ago. What's he waiting for?" 

"You..said you would let me go," Abby whispered. 

Matt pushed the door open and stepped aside. 

"Get out of here Abby. Send Jackson next time, or someone else," Matt ordered. 

She collected herself and stood to leave, as she was walking out he grabbed her with his left hand. "How does it feel Abby? How does it feel to go to bed in your empty quarters every night knowing you murdered your husband and locked up your daughter when all he was trying to do was save humanity?" Matt whispered to her. 

Abby recoiled, pulling away from him. "I..I cry myself to sleep every night," she whispered. 

"Wow. An honest answer. I'm surprised. Don't worry Abby. I will save humanity for Jake, and my mom. Marcus Kane won't be there to see it, but maybe you will be, if you are lucky, now go." He motioned to the door and she left, but not before he snagged her water bottle, he pulled the door closed after her. As she was walking away, she stopped and put her hand on Clarke's door, but couldn't go any further than that. 

Matt gave her a few minutes to be gone then pushed the door back open, she had truly come alone, no guards to lock his cell. What a brave woman. And incredibly stupid, but for different reasons, he mused. Walking over to Clarke's cell, he slid the window slot open. Again, drawing on the wall. 

"Hey," he called out to her. 

"Hey," she whispered back, walking over. "More fighting? You didn't happen to snag some water did you?"

"As a matter of fact I did," Matt said, smiling, as he held up the bottle. She giggled and went to get her ration bowl, putting it on the window slot. Matt obliged her before sipping some water for himself. 

"It wasn't fighting today, by the way. A doctor came and changed my cast," he raised his hand to show her the smaller cast. "Man, it sucks up here Clarke, we are excited just to get some water. And what was our crime? Okay, putting a beatdown, and then later shattering Marcus Kane's jaw was mine, but what about you?" 

Clarke smiled, "I'm telling you Matt, you have got to do something about that ego of yours. It's going to get you floated one day," sipping her water, giving him some sly looks. "What doctor came to see you?" she asked. 

"Well, first of all, we aren't gonna be in the skybox much longer, so no worries about getting floated. And secondly, it was your mom. More water?" he replied, holding up the bottle. 

"Wait what?" Putting her bowl back on the slot. "My mother came to see you, but not me? And what do you mean we aren't going to be here much longer? They aren't going to let us go. Wait. Are they going to kill us to save oxygen?" She whispered. 

Matt filled up her bowl again. "No Clarke, not directly. They might cause us to die, but they aren't going to kill us like that. About a month ago, I told Jaha to send a team down to Earth to see if it's survivable. I think he is going to send the kids in the skybox down. Any day now. Honestly, I have no idea what he is waiting for. Unless he already sent a team down, but I seriously doubt that." 

"Wow Matt, that's a lot," she whispered, sipping her water. "You are right, it does suck up here." 

"Hey Clarke?" Matt asked. 

"Hmm?" she looked up at him, he was looking at her pretty seriously. "What is it, Matt?"

"If I hold my cast up to the slot, will you autograph it? I heard that used to be a thing in pre-bombed out Earth," he asked, jokingly. 

"What? Why?" she sputtered. "Besides, they would see it and know you had gotten out of your cell."

"That's true, but the guards last time knew, and nothing happened. But I guess we shouldn't risk it. Have it your way, romance killer," Matt laughed. 

Clarke could just shake her head, finishing her water. "Thanks for the water again Matt,"

"You're welcome Clarke. Don't worry, it's going to be better soon. I'm gonna get going," Matt finished, moving to close the window slot. 

"Hey Matt! Wait," Clarke moved towards the door. "Two things, I'll sign your cast, and.. please tell me how my Mom was."

Matt held his cast up to the slot, and she reached through with her marker and drew a heart. "Careful Clarke, I might get the wrong idea." 

"You are the only person I have spoken to this entire time Matt, and it has only happened because you made it happen. And you have shared water that you aren't even supposed to have with me. This is the least I can do. Now please tell me how my mom was," Clarke whispered. 

Matt sighed. "Clarke, she wasn't doing that great. She put on a brave show, but I could see her pain. She misses Jake, she misses you. And she feels bad about everything that has happened. I doubt I see her again, it was hard to get the truth out of her. And I don't know how successful I was," Matt confessed, 

Clarke sighed. "Thank you Matt." 

"Hey Clarke? In total seriousness, if I could get us real visitation, what kind of shot do I have with you?"

"Oh my God, get out of here," she laughed.

"Hey you can't blame me!" Matt laughed, closed the window slot and headed back to his cell, closing the door behind him. "You guys better move fast, I'm getting tired of being here," he said to anyone listening. 


	8. Plotting the Deception

Two days had passed since Abby's visit, Matt was doing one handed pushups in his cell, focusing on what problems lay before him. Kill Kane. Save the Ark. Save humanity. In that order. His other hand was still in its cast, but it was feeling better. He could probably close his hand now. But he didn't want to remove it, there would be no getting it back on by himself. Maybe he could try to get visitation with Clarke. The door opened. A single guard walked in, followed by Shumway, the patsy, and another bigger man he didn't recognize. Time for some real talk, rising to his feet. 

"Who are you?" Matt asked. 

"I'm the man that you demanded to see, after pummeling my men," the man responded, in a gruff voice. 

"Your patsy was the one that left your men here to get pummeled," Matt countered, pointing at Shumway. "I notice you only have one man this time, I guess you think very highly of yourself."

"It's not that, I simply don't think it's necessary for us to fight. We are on the same side, after all," replied the big guy. 

"Are we? I asked to see the leader of your rebellion, and you don't look that part. Think being tall makes you intimidating or something? It doesn't. This has better not be a waste of my time, I'm losing patience. If I have to kill to get your leader's attention, I will," Matt stated. 

The man paused. "You know they say you are 16 years old. They also say that you are the farthest thing from the typical 16 year old there is. I can see why. Let's talk business."

Matt sat down on the bunk. "So talk."

"We want you to take out the Chancellor. We can guarantee your safety if you do that," the man finished. 

Matt couldn't believe it. "Are you serious? Take out the Chancellor, you guarantee my safety? That's your bold plan? Your risking your lives coming here on that? The answer is not just no, its hell no. Kill Jaha, Marcus Kane takes over. How in the world does that help the cause? No, I'm killing Kane, you people are taking out the rest of the Council," Matt said, practically shouting. 

"The rest of the Council?" the man asked, surprised.

Matt jumped out of his bunk. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME. You are planning a coup, and you are just killing one guy? That's not how it works! What kind of effing amateurs am I dealing with! GET OUT. Or I am going to kill all three of you with my bare hands! Unbelievable!" Matt threw up his hands and paced. 

Shumway and the guard deployed their shock batons, as if that would make any difference, Matt was boiling over. The man raised his hand. 

"Okay. Let's dial it down. As I said, we are on the same side. Walk me through it." 

Matt sighed. "Okay. I'm going to speak..very..slowly. Because I am clearly.. dealing with.. a bunch of... idiots. In order..to take control...of the Ark..you have to..wipe out..the Council..Kane..Griffin..Jaha..the rest of them..all at once...then...you have..to seize power..using the chaos..of the power vacuum..that you..just created. Are you with me so far? The person..that takes over..has to be..a strong leader..that the people..will embrace..or else..you will have..riots...chaos...death..culminating..in your deaths. That's why..in most cases..it looks like..an accident..bombs work well. I will...kill Marcus Kane..with my own hands..which will remove..a huge obstacle..to your cause. You clearly..are not ready..for this. Stop wasting..everyone's time...especially..mine. Your best shot..at this point...given the timeline..is to kill..the Chancellor..and Kane...but for sure...Kane. No one..should want..Kane..to take over..in any capacity. We must..kill...Kane."

"Please stop talking like that," the man interrupted. 

"I'm sorry...that you are too stupid..to understand...the ramifications OF WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE," Matt shouted back. "Literally, humanity depends on the right choices being made in the next few weeks. We already have made several horrible choices that have accelerated our demise. I don't have time to waste with amateurs. Which you clearly are! Get your shit together. Find a way for me to kill Kane. Find a way for someone else to kill Jaha! Then get back to me with an actual plan!" Matt shouted. 

Matt let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "Alright, I want a couple of things. This is non negotiable. First, a sword. A real, bonafide sword. Not a knife, not a shiv, not a dagger. A sword. Second, I want to have visitation with the girl next door, for the next two days. Undisturbed. Give me the key to her cell, and a water bottle. And lastly, leave this guard here for me to spar with, don't worry, I will go easy on him," Matt ordered. 

The man looked confused. "Where am I supposed to get any of those things?" 

Matt looked at him with disgust. "That's your problem, work with Nigel. Shumway has the key I'm sure, and the guard has water. Now disappear man, you have wasted enough of my time."

Shumway handed him the keys to Clarke and his cell, and a water bottle, and left with the fake tough guy. The guard looked fairly nervous. Matt looked at him and sighed. "You don't have to fight if you don't want to. Get lost or throw down, your choice." 

"Nah, I'll fight," the guard said, readying up. 

Matt matched him, and the two squared off. The guard came forward with a punch, and Matt knocked it away, the guy was wide open after one punch. One sidekick to the chin, down for the count. 

Matt sighed again. This is what he was working with to save the Ark. Matt helped the guy up, who was clearly dazed, and ushered him out. He actually wanted to see Clarke. Walking down to her cell, opening the window slot, and she was there, waiting for him with her ration bowl. 

"Wow, waiting for me huh? How did you know?" Matt asked, curious. 

"Someone knocked on the door," Clarke replied, calmly. 

"Ha, cheater. I have a surprise for you," Matt laughed. 

"Oh, what's that? Whoaaaa..." She exclaimed, as Matt opened her cell door. 

He didn't even have his shirt on, he had totally forgotten about it during the disturbance, which is all it was. "Matt Kane, in the flesh, with water!" He laughed.

Clarke laughed back. "How in the world?" she asked, as he came in. 

"Oh uh, your cell or mine?" Matt asked, seriously. 

Clarke just looked at him slyly, shaking her head. "You are unbelievable. I've got nothing. Sit down," she motioned to her bunk. 

He sat, and looked at her in shock as she too took off her shirt and sat down next to him. 

"Whoa! Now it's my turn to be surprised. Here I thought I had absolutely no chance," Matt exclaimed. 

Clarke just laughed. "How long do we have?" she asked, as she continued to undress, losing her shoes and her pants and shifting to lie down with her head on his legs, extending her own legs to hang off the foot of the bunk. 

Matt was speechless. Clarke looked amazing pretty much all the time, but it was always from a distance, he was so used to everyone shunning him because of who his father was. He had never been this close to anyone. 

"Matt?" Clarke broke his train of thought.

"Oh! Uh, I got us two days of no disturbances," Matt stammered. 

"Wow Matt. Do you know how much sex we can have in two days?" Clarke asked. 

"Uh, no? I mean, a lot?" Matt was totally lost. 

Clarke burst out laughing, sitting up and turning around, "Oh I got you good Matt Kane!" Clarke laughed even harder. 

Matt was completely embarrassed, she totally fooled him. He grabbed her pillow and hit her with it. She took it and just kept laughing. "Wow Clarke, wow." 

She stood up and held up her ration bowl. "Pour me some water," she giggled. 

"No way," Matt pouted. "It's my water, I had to fight for it, get your own." He didn't last long, as he relented and poured her some water. At least she was still in her skivvies, looking great. "You are the worst." 

Clarke sipped the water, smiling. "Listen Matt, I'm sorry you are being abused by the guards, that's wrong, and I do have a real problem with it. And I definitely appreciate you sharing your water with me, and spending time with me, that's why I stripped for you. See?" She did a spin for him, and he definitely looked on. 

Matt leaned back against the wall, "No chance huh?" 

"I wouldn't say that, but we have a lot to talk about. And that comes first," she said, as she got dressed. 

Matt sighed. "Well my shirt is in my cell, so you will continue to enjoy the show, meanie. Can you please check my hand while we talk?" 

"Of course Matt. I'm on your side, I'm going to help you. How did this happen, anyway? Was it the fighting?" she asked, as she took his hand and started to remove the cast. 

"Nah. I broke it at my mother's...execution.." Matt paused. That was harder to think about than he wanted to admit. 

Clarke looked up at him. "Yeah, you said that you broke his jaw with a 'tremendous kick," she said, rolling her eyes. "That doesn't explain the hand." She took off the cast. 

Matt closed his fist, it was still sore, but at least he could do it. One time. He tried again and it got more difficult. Still not ready. 

"After I broke free from the guards, I had a straight line to Marcus Kane, I was consumed with rage, wasn't thinking, wasn't in control. I went to punch him as hard as I could, but even a total idiot, which Kane is, could have dodged that punch, which he did. My hand smashed the bulkhead, and I guess he thought the pain from that would buy him some time. He thought wrong," Matt grinned. 

Clarke put the cast back on. "And in retaliation, he is sending guards to beat you. He really is a monster," Clarke sighed. 

Wow, Matt thought to himself, that's a perfect cover story. He nodded silently. "The times I come to see you, those are my wins, the times I don't, well, I just chalk it up to being outnumbered. We have to beat him Clarke."

"And how do we do that? We are in solitary. And he is the Chief of Security, Chancellor Pro-Tempe. He is untouchable," Clarke replied. 

"Tell that to his jaw," Matt laughed. "No one is untouchable Clarke, I've been getting offers. They come in between fights. I'm trying to figure out how real they are, but a rebellion is brewing. I'm trying to figure out who to side with, who gives us the best chance to survive."

Clarke paused. "You said that the Earth is survivable, how do you know that?" 

"It was my Mom. She figured it out, honestly its common sense. Why isn't the Earth survivable? Nuclear radiation. The human body can't metastasize the radiation. Well, the pre-nuclear apocalypse human body. But the people living on the Ark? We have been exposed to more radiation than the entire human race was 97 years ago. Solar radiation Clarke," Matt finished. 

"Oh my God," Clarke gasped. "You are right. Well, your mom was right, she gets the credit. Not you Matt," she laughed. 

"Hey, if it improves my chances with you, I'll take that," Matt laughed back. 

Clarke smiled. "It doesn't hurt them. So you said we were getting sent down. How does that work?" 

Matt turned serious. "You know the problem with the O2 from your dad, which he gets credit for, not you. How much time we got left? 4 months? 3? They are going to have to send someone down, out of desperation. Before the O2 problem, my mom and I thought it would be a team of volunteers. Now, I think it will be the skybox. They will use the word 'expendable.' But they will do it. Every day they waste makes the situation worse. Honestly I don't know why we aren't down there already. When it happens, act surprised, act scared. If they figure out we have been talking, I don't know what will happen." Matt finished. 

"They will send us down to Earth, that's what will happen. What else can they do Matt? Make you fight more? The law won't let them float us," Clarke was confident. 

"Marcus Kane floats whomever he wants. Based on his actions so far, I think he has totally corrupted Jaha, the only person left that can really save us is probably your mom," Matt replied, thinking about that for later. 

Clarke sighed, and stood up to look at him. She was checking him out. She started to get undressed again, removing her shirt. "Two days huh, no interruptions? A lot can happen in that time, Matt Kane," she smiled at him. 

He wasn't gonna fall for the same trick twice, he was taking the lead this time. "I’ve never..been this close to anyone Clarke. You want to make out? And then how about a full body massage?" He grinned at her. 

She stared back at him, "Are you serious? A massage sounds amazing. I think making out is a fair trade." 

“Come on then,” Matt grinned. Clarke took off her pants again and pushed him down, laying on top of him , wrapping her hands around his neck, they kissed as he grabbed her thighs. They kissed passionately, Clarke was all over him, he was surprised at her aggressiveness. Sitting up, she offered him a smile. 

“As far as first kisses go, I can’t imagine anything better than that. Can I ask you something?” Matt grinned. 

“I’m afraid to say yes, but go ahead,” Clarke eyed him slyly. 

“We are all starving up here, we have to work out to maintain our conditioning, but still, how are your breasts that big?” Matt stifled a laugh. 

Clarke slapped him lightly across the cheek. “I’m allowing that comment, but there is no way I am answering. Now come on, I want that massage.”

Matt laughed, "Get off of me, and lie down on your stomach, facing the other way, ok yeah you got it." She fell backwards and rolled over, eyeing him as he admired her legs. "Get rid of that bra, and hug the pillow," he smiled as he sat up and took her feet into his hands.

She was having a hard time getting that bra off, as he had already started to massage her feet. He let up a little bit to let her finish her task, then continued on, enjoying the sounds she was making into the pillow. It was going to be a fun two days. 


	9. Happy Exodus Day

Matt woke up with a start, he could sense something was about to happen, a feeling of dread. He was careful not to wake Clarke, as she was sleeping soundly after that massage. She had passed out in his arms a few hours ago, it was a great feeling, to be that close to another person, and not have to worry about anything sinister. He slowly crawled out of bed and covered Clarke back up, not wanting to give anyone a free show. Pulling his pants on quickly and lacing his shoes, he moved over to the door and opened it slowly. 

"Matt?" Clarke whispered. 

"Go back to sleep, I'll be right back, checking things out real quick," he whispered back. He locked the cell behind him, just in case.

Walking back to his own cell, the skybox was dark and quiet. Literally a "too quiet" situation, he mused. Opening his cell, and leaving his window slot open, he put his shirt on, and the lights came on all of sudden. The guards moved into the skybox with numbers, they weren't coming to see just him. This was it. Does he throw in with the amateur rebels, or put his faith in Dr. Abigail Griffin? They were both risks, but he had a few things up his sleeve to give Abby the edge. He also had a few options to give the rebels the edge, but they had just made such a poor impression, whereas Abby showed him some actual courage. 

He figured he had a few extra moments to decide, as the guards were about to walk in to a naked Clarke covered in just a blanket, and that was not going to go over well. Listening through his window slot, he heard her door open, and sure enough...

"Prisoner 319, face..."

"Oh my God, get out! At least let me get dressed first you assholes!" Clarke shrieked. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, uh, yeah, get dressed Prisoner..319, we will move on to the next..."

"Clarke? What is going on? Why are you naked?" Dr. Abigail Griffin asked, with shock in her voice. 

Oh, this is going to be marvelous. Come on Clarke, play your part. You were born for this. 

"Mom, oh my God, Mom!" Clarke shouted. 

That was probably a hug. Patience Matt, he chucked to himself. 

"Clarke, I love you so much, but really, how are you not freezing? Why are you sleeping naked?" 

This is it. You're on Clarke .

"Well Mom, I just spent the night with my neighbor and potential new boyfriend. You know, the one that you and the Council have been physically abusing in a fighting pit. He took good care of me tonight, that's how I'm not freezing," Clarke deadpanned. 

PERFECT!!!!! Literally. The. Best. Partner. Ever. 

"WHAT?" Abby's shouted. "Slow down. You're solitary, you aren't allowed visitation..? How did you..sleep together...? What fighting pit??" Abby was bewildered. 

"Which question would you like me to answer first Mom? Would you like me to get specific about how we spent the night together? Or do you want to know about the fighting pit you have been sponsoring?" Clarke deadpanned. 

Go with the first one Abby. Get the details on our secret affair.

"I don't know anything about a fighting pit Clarke. Do you hear me? Nothing. I'm still not convinced you aren't making this up just to spite me," Abby claimed.

Pretty sure I'm about to be on, Matt thought, readying the door handle that he was going to open from the inside, despite the fact that should be impossible. Sure enough..

"Oh really? Come with me then," Clarke stormed out of her cell and walked down the hall. 

Matt opened the door and walked out. 

"Hey babe, how does that body feel?" Matt smiled. 

"Amazing, thanks to you," Clarke leaned in and kissed him. 

What a great kisser, as far as best first kisses go, this has to be the best, Matt thought. He broke with Clarke and looked up at a completely stunned Abigail Griffin. 

"How..did you get out of your cell Matt?" Abby managed to get out. 

Matt held up the keys to his and Clarke's cell. "I unlocked it, obviously. Here, catch." Matt tossed her the keys, which she somehow caught. "Everytime I win, I get extra water rations and time to visit Clarke, everytime I lose, I chalk it up to being outnumbered. Last night, I won big, two nights with Clarke. It was supposed to be undisturbed, but you interrupted that when I came back to my cell for my extra bedding. But we still had fun, right babe?" Matt asked Clarke, as he put his arm around her. 

"Absolutely," Clarke smiled. "So Mom, this is it, right, you are sending us down to Earth, to make sure it's survivable? What's the word? Expendable?" Clarke was on fire. 

Abby was still reeling. "How do you know that?" she asked. She was having a hard time putting sentences together, Matt could tell. Information overload. 

"It was my idea, Councillor Griffin. I pitched it to Jaha months ago, before you murdered our parents. I have always known. The question is what took you so long? Did Kane want to make sure I suffered as much physical abuse as possible?" Matt retorted. He was twisting that knife as hard as he could. 

"No. Please..Matt. I..the Council had nothing to do with your physical abuse. I promise," Abby pleaded. 

"I love promises. They are the best things ever. Other than Clarke in bed," Mat twisted some more. 

"Okay..I give up. Please you two, just let them put your wristbands on, and..I will deal with the physical abuse. I..promise," Abby sighed. 

"Whoa deja vu, didn't you just say you love promises Matt?" Clarke asked. She was getting in on the twisting. 

"Yes Clarke, I believe I said they were the second best thing ever, next to you in.." Matt tried to respond. 

"I heard you. Please. No more. Clarke, I love you. Your instincts will tell you to take care of everyone else, but if you want to just sleep with Matt all day, that works too I guess. And..I'm sorry..for everything," Abby finished, throwing up her hands and starting to walk away.

As the guards were putting on the weird wristbands, Matt Kane made his fateful decision. 

"Dr. Griffin!" He shouted at her. She stopped and turned. 

"I'm putting my chips in your corner. Betting on you. To make everything right. Everything. Don't make me regret my decision," Matt stated, staring her down. 

Sensing the importance of that announcement, Abigail Griffin nodded, and walked away, with more purpose. 

The guards ushered them out with the rest of the 100 kids, and marched them to the drop ship. Matt was getting a little nervous, not about the mission, but about the rebellion. They had to make their move soon. What a surprise they were in for. Sure enough, as he turned a corner, the side door in the hallway opened and a dark figure motioned to him to enter. Matt did, and loved what he saw. 

"Here is your sword, it took a lot to get this, so don't waste it," the man said, in his usual gruff voice, handing Matt a sheathed sword. 

Matt took it out, it was a Gladius, from the Roman era. Well, a replica, but combat ready. Matt was in love. 

"I can't believe you found this on the Ark," Matt whispered. Okay, enough oogling. TIme for business. 

"Where is Kane? He can't be in Earth Monitoring, its crawling with people. How are you gonna get him out?" Matt demanded. 

"Easy, tell him that you collapsed on your way to the drop ship, he will come running right to this spot, you pop out and kill him. And if we are lucky, Dr. Griffin as well. Drag their bodies into this room, and then run onto the dropship. You might hate Kane, but you are still his son. He will come, bet on it," the man said. 

Matt nodded. That wasn't a terrible plan, Matt was impressed. Needed a bit more information though. 

"What about Jaha? You got someone taking him out? And how does the dropship work? Hopefully no one has to close the door behind us, its too risky. Can we do it from the inside?" Matt demanded. One of those answers was far more important than the other. Too bad this poor sap doesn't know which is which. 

"Yeah, we are taking out Jaha, Shumway will deliver the kid, don't worry about the dropship, no one has to be on the outside, you two go in, close the door, seal it, and Earth Monitoring will remote launch as if everything is normal. Don't worry kid, we thought of everything this time," the man snorted. 

Famous last words, Matt laughed to himself, double checking the room was empty and the hallway was clear. "Except one thing," Matt stated, matter of factly. 

"What's..unnhh," the man gasped, as Matt ran the gladius right through the man's stomach. 

"You fucking amateurs had your chance to convince me you were the ones to side with, and you blew it," Matt hissed. "Your pathetic rebellion dies today, tell me who the leader is and I will end your pain, otherwise the next 5 minutes are going to be HORRIBLE for you." Matt twisted the sword ever so slightly. 

"Ahhh," the man gasped in pain. 

"Talk," Matt commanded. 

"Fuck...you.." the man managed. 

Matt simply twisted the sword slightly again. 

"Wrong answer. Tell me. Man or woman. Old or young. Name will end it the fastest," Matt twisted again, as the man fell to his knees, crying tears, Matt was unmoved. 

"Ahhh...it's an older woman. Former Council Member I think..pleaseeee..." the man was begging. 

"You know what these Romans loved to do right? They were great soldiers, but they were taught to make sure their enemies were dead, and there is one way that works best," Matt whispered. He was honestly just making this part up to sound cool. He thought it was working. He took the sword out of the man's stomach, and as the man looked up at him, swung it horizontally, beheading him with one stroke. 

"Whoa, I didn't think that would work!" Matt shouted to no one in particular. Lots of blood, literally everywhere. The man's head was resting against the wall. The blood was a problem. He looked at it heading towards the door, and moved a chair to stop it. He fiddled with it a little bit, and just thought it was ridiculous, so gave up. Now to wait for Shumway. He sheathed his sword, it won't be long, is he ever in for a surprise, Matt mused. 

Matt was right, he didn't have to wait long, Shumway announced his arrival, the idiot. 

"It's this way, hurry!" Shumway shouted. 

Matt exited the room as Shumway rounded the corner, followed by another guy he didn't recognize, wearing a guard uniform, but not a guard. Looking pretty nervous. 

"Hey! Is it done?" Shumway demanded, pointing towards the end of the hallway, where the dropship waited. The fake guard jogged that way. 

"Yep, pretty solid plan for a patsy, I'm impressed," Matt offered. "I could use your help with the body, its bleeding everywhere, sorry. It wasn't the cleanest of kills." 

Shumway sighed. "Okay, but let's hurry." Shunway walked through the door, saw the dead body, the wrong dead body, but it was too late. 

"Unnh," Shumway groaned and looked down, a blade was protruding out of his chest. 

"I got all the intel I needed from that guy, so your services aren't required patsy, good-bye," Matt hissed from behind. Allowing Shumway to fall to his knees, Matt pulled the gladius out, and finished Shumway off by slicing his throat, spraying blood everywhere. Who knew humans had so much blood? 

"What are you doing?" the fake guard demanded. Looking back and noticing all the blood, and bodies. 

"No witnesses," Matt offered. "Come on, let's go. The ground is waiting." Matt ran past the fake guard, sword in hand, and onto the drop ship, the guy followed quickly behind as Matt closed the airlock, and then the drop ship door. 

"So is my sister," the guard muttered. 

Matt looked at the fake guard, "What's your name man?" he asked. 

"Bellamy Blake."

"Well Bellamy Blake, strap in, and remember this. Best. Exodus Day. Ever," Matt laughed. 

Even Bellamy laughed at that. "Best Exodus Day Ever." 


	10. Camp Exodus

Day 1

Matt and Bellamy quickly found open seats and strapped themselves in, preparing for the ride of a lifetime. The drop ship launched and they were away, Matt was grinning to himself as he took in all that had just happened, all that was happening, and all that was about to happen. 

"Dude is that blood?" the kid next to him broke his train of thought.

Matt hadn't even noticed the fact that he was covered in blood. 

"And..is that a sword?" the kid asked, in shock. 

"Oh uh, yeah, to both questions, yes," Matt admitted. He looked at the kid, who looked like he was about 14. "What's your name kid?" 

"Monty. Thats Jasper," the kid pointed to the guy in goggles next to him. 

"Well, you probably know who I am. So, no more questions for now, okay Monty and Jasper? Lets just enjoy the ride," Matt finished. 

They had broken free of the Ark, and gravity had disappeared. He noticed one kid floating around, other kids were calling him Spacewalker, and he floated over to Clarke. And there was Wells Jaha. 

Wait what? What is Wells doing here? And that kid must be the idiot that wasted three months of oxygen, three months that the Ark could use right now. Scratch him off the list of potentially useful children I have to deal with. Is he ever in for a rude awakening in about 20 seconds when we break the atmosphere. Those two idiots too,  Matt thought to himself. 

A video of Chancellor Jaha, the late Chancellor, as far as Matt knew, started playing, talking about Mount Weather and supplies. Matt heard the word expendable and a couple of insults lobbed at Wells, wasn't gonna argue with either of those facts at the moment. He couldn't stop smiling. 

Two more kids had joined the Spacewalker and were floating around, certain to die in a matter of seconds. Clarke was in the middle of telling Wells she hated him when that atmosphere came calling. Everyone was having a rough landing, except Matt. 

"Woooo! We are alive kiddos! Hold on to something and let’s all pray the parachutes open!" Matt shouted. 

They were falling pretty fast when there was a sudden buck and drop in airspeed as the parachutes deployed and the three kids that had gotten out of their seats were thrown violently to the side. Matt laughed out loud, for a few reasons. They hit the ground and Clarke quickly got out of her seat and asked the Spacewalker if he was okay. Matt didn't even bother. All he knew was he was not on burial detail. Heading down the ladder, dripping blood everywhere, Bellamy was already at the door. 

"Back it up guys," Bellamy commanded. Matt could see the potential right away. 

"Bellamy?" a girl's voice called out. 

That must be the sister, Octavia. She looks way better than I thought she would for a girl that lived under the floor for 16 years. What a touching reunion. Its total bullshit what those two have had to go through, Matt reflected.

"Wait!" Clarke shouted out. "The air could be toxic." 

"Yeah Clarke, you are right, it could be," Matt interrupted. "But as much as I would love to blast off and do that descent all over again, it's not happening. So we might as well find out what our fate is. Crank it open Bellamy," Matt finished.

Bellamy had said something to his sister, it looked like he was letting her go first, completely acceptable. He opened the door and Matt felt the sun hit his face, the most amazing feeling he had ever felt. And he had felt a lot of amazing things just in the last 24 hours, as he looked at Clarke. Octavia walked down the ramp slowly, and jumped onto the ground. Taking a deep breath..

"We're back, bitches!!" she shouted. The kids all joined her in shouting and ran down the ramp and into the woods. Matt let them go on ahead as he took it all in. Clarke seemed to have the same thing in mind as she made eye contact with him and they came together. 

"Please tell me that's not your blood," she whispered. 

"It's not. I didn't even realize it was on me until that kid Monty asked about it, and this," Matt whispered back, as he held up his sword. "Come on, lets go." 

Matt and Clarke walked down the ramp, Clarke immediately looked to her west, as Matt looked up at the sun. They drifted apart, Matt alone to an empty area. He squatted down and touched the ground, taking the dirt into his hands. 

You were right Mom. The ground is survivable. But we aren't going to just survive. We aren't going to just live. We are going to thrive Mom. We are going to THRIVE. And then, I will avenge you with my own two hands. 

Matt looked up at the sky, and fell onto his back, just taking it all in for a little bit longer. He looked over to see Clarke and noticed the Spacewalker had not only survived but had joined her. 

Matt stood up, as Bellamy was telling Clarke something about being privileged, and noticed a peak in the distance. If that was the same Mount Weather Jaha was talking about, he had screwed his people over yet again. It was at least two days away, maybe even three to get there and back. If there wasn't food in the drop ship, they would have to find some in the woods fast. Kids weren't very strong in normal situations, but without food, forget it. 

It looked like the Mount Weather team consisted of Clarke, the Spacewalker, Monty and Jasper, and Octavia Blake.  May God have mercy on their poor lost souls. 

"Hey Matt, are you coming?" Clarke shouted at him. 

"All yours Clarke, I'll get the camp setup while you guys are out there..foraging," Matt shouted back. 

Clarke yelled an acknowledgement and they really did head out. Matt was surprised Bellamy let his sister go. This was a guy that ignored a headless body and a sliced throat just to run to his sister and yet let her wander off in the woods with a bunch of know-nothings with a very slim chance of actually making it to their destination. 

On that note, better talk to Bellamy , Matt mused. But he was stopped by some kid with a knife that looked like he wanted to commit suicide via sword. 

"You know, I just got done telling Wells that my parents begged for their lives when they got floated. And then Bellamy here just puts the privileged kids to work, and you ignore him like he isn't even there. And I bet that it was your dad that pushed the airlock button," the kid finished, waving his knife in Matt's direction. 

Best. Exodus Day. Ever. 

"Which one of those completely irrelevant statements would you like for me to address first?" Matt challenged, as he drew his sword from his sheath, still fresh blood on it. 

The kid looked at the blood on the sword, then he seemingly noticed the blood all over Matt, and it gave him a bit of pause. Matt didn't let up. 

"Hey!" he shouted, snapping his fingers at the kid, "Talking to you kid. We doing this or not? Here, I don't actually need the sword," Matt said mockingly, as he sheathed the sword and dropped it on the ground, moving into his standard ready position. 

The kid was perplexed, he was clearly in way over his head, but he also couldn't give in with the entire group watching, all with the same level of pause the kid was feeling. Even Bellamy wasn't rushing to jump in. The kid made his decision, he was going for it, and lunged forward at Matt, knife in hand, absolutely no thought to defending himself. Classic childlike behavior. Matt was ready and all too willing, as he quickly executed a spinning roundhouse kick right to the poor kid's face. Down and out. 

"Wooooo!" Matt shouted at the top of his lungs. "My name! Is MATT! KANE! And my father, FLOATED MY MOTHER! And I. WILL. KILL. HIM. for that. He sent guards to fight me in the skybox, REGULARLY! It was his idea of RETALIATION, for me BREAKING HIS JAW at my mother's EXECUTION. YEAH. So if you think..that hurting ME..hurts MARCUS. KANE, I've GOT NEWS FOR YOU! IT DOESN'T. ANYBODY! That takes a run at me, will end up like this kid on the ground! Does ANYONE have a problem with that?" Matt finished, as he picked up his sword. 

Total. Fucking. Silence. 

"GOOD! Now FUCK OFF!" Matt shouted, as he walked towards the drop ship. He stopped and turned, pointing at Bellamy, "Bellamy! You and me have to talk, let's go!" as he continued up the ramp. Bellamy followed behind. 

Matt squatted down on the bottom deck, facing the ramp. Bellamy followed suit. He understood the discretion this conversation required. The potential was definitely there. 

"Sooo, how's it going?" Matt smiled. 

"Good. Uh, I'm good," Bellamy replied, staring outside. 

"Thinking about your sister? All you had to do to get by her side again? I'm surprised you let her go with those knuckleheads. I'll be even more surprised if they succeed," Matt admitted. 

"Can we skip to where we talk about what the hell happened on the Ark with you?" Bellamy shot back. 

Matt smiled. "Sure man. Lets see. They recruited you to kill Jaha right? Offered you a spot on the dropship if you did the deed? I can see that. That's actually a solid line of thinking. So, did you do it? Did you kill Jaha?" 

Bellamy paused. "I shot him," he confessed. 

"Come on man, don't act like you are confessing a crime. I'm not here to condemn you. I'm not gonna rat you out to this group of idiots either. Just tell me, do you think he is dead?"

"I hit him center mass," Bellamy admitted, with a bit more confidence. 

"How many times, you still got the gun? Make sure you keep it, even if you empty the clip," Matt asked. 

"Just once, and yeah." Bellamy stated, sounding annoyed. 

"Wait, one time? I would have fired a couple more times, just to make sure. Well, let's say he is dead. Getting back to your question, what happened with me. Where to start..hmm. They did recruit me to kill Jaha, but I rejected them outright. Their plan was flimsy, they weren't even considering killing Kane, and killing one misguided Chancellor to replace him with a total fucking lunatic is not something I am about to sign up for. So I offered to kill Kane directly, and told them to find someone else to kill Jaha. That's how you got recruited. I told them I wanted a sword. And they actually came through on that front, a Roman Gladius, how it got on the Ark, no fucking idea. But what else did they offer me? Zip. Literally, nothing. It was a weak plan, and I ended up rejecting it. I gave Abby evidence of the fighting pit Kane was torturing me with, or trying to torture me with, I won a lot more than I lost, and I'm with Clarke now because of it, I think. Not really concerned at the moment. What do you call those? Open relationships. Anyways, if you killed Jaha, and Kane was implicated, I just had to remove the two witnesses behind the fighting pit that could have exonerated Kane if pressured. Which is what you walked in on. And Kane would have at the very least had to step down as Chancellor pro temp, so that leaves literally anyone else in charge. Wow, I'm talking a lot huh? It must be the adrenaline high," Matt paused to take a breath. 

"I kind of noticed that, yeah," Bellamy pointed out. He sighed, "So what now? You killed those two guys, brutally, that's gonna have consequences."

"Kinda like how killing Jaha is gonna have consequences? Look man, we are in control now, more control than you think. A rebellion is brewing up there, and I literally tortured the first guy for the details, and he spilled them. I know who is turning the screws now. With that information, I can ransom a pair of pardons. How does that sound?" Matt asked. 

"That actually sounds good. What do you want in return?" Bellamy asked. 

"I knew you had potential Bellamy. So here is the deal, I'm willing to let you be the visible point man of this rag tag group. You call the shots, I don't care. Don't order me around, and we are good. Keep your people off my back, and we are good. I have had to fight off literal assassination attempts on the Ark, real ones. I'm not talking about that pathetic shit that just happened out there either. I'm willing to spill some more blood to drive my point across, but I would prefer not to. I want to have fun down here, thrive, be free of the Ark, do whatever I want for once. I don't want to have to babysit. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah. I'm in. I have a few conditions of my own though," Bellamy replied. 

"Let me guess, stay away from your hotter-than-she-should-be sister?" Matt laughed. 

"Starting with that, yes," Bellamy glared at him. 

"I'm not interested in any of that stuff man. Besides, I've got Clarke if I really wanted, have you seen her? Anything else that's serious?" Matt asked. 

"Am I interrupting?" Wells Jaha walked in. 

"Yeah Wells, you are. What do you want?" Matt demanded. 

"I'm just gonna go to the roof and check out the comms system if that's cool?" Wells said. 

Matt waved him off. "Get going. And Wells! You have to toughen the hell up if you are gonna survive down here. They look at you and see privilege, an easy mark, someone to prey upon. What do you think they see when they look at me? Get closer to that, by any means necessary, because I'm not watching your back!" Matt commanded. 

"Right," Wells replied, heading up the ladder. 

Matt sighed. "Okay Bellamy, final thoughts for now. How many of these 100 kids we have to deal with do you think are actually useful, and can contribute to our survival?"

Bellamy sighed as well. "Maybe 20, if we are lucky. Some of them look like there aren't even teenagers. And that Spacewalker is already moving in on Clarke, you know." 

Matt huffed. "There are plenty of other options, but like I said, I have no time for that. Let's go through the supplies, see if those adults gave us anything good for once in their lives."

As Matt stood up, Bellamy stopped him, "Wait."

"Yeah?" Matt asked. 

"We should come up with a name for the camp. Our new home," Bellamy said. 

"Yeah man, you are right. Good for morale. How about Camp Exodus?" Matt suggested. 

Bellamy nodded. "Camp Exodus, sounds good. One more thing, what's with the wristbands?" he asked. 

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot about these. They put them on us in the skybox after Clarke and I dropped a megabomb on her mom about the fighting pit, us sleeping together, us knowing their plan, but I didn't really pay attention to these, I was caught up with Clarke being awesome. Uh best guess, they are transmitting our vitals to the Ark, letting them know how our bodies are reacting to the radiation. Which, obviously, we are fine, and they have lived their entire lives being wrong, and my mom died because she was smarter than them," Matt seethed. 

Bellamy put his hand up,"Listen, I know what its like to lose a mother, so no disrespect meant, but if they are transmitting, we can deactivate them so they won't come down?" 

Matt glared at Bellamy, "Did you miss the part where I ransom our pardons? You don't have to worry about them coming down, nothing is going to happen to us. If you don't think I know how to leverage information, think about Shumway and his blood donation to the Ark. Look, we will probably need them anyway, especially if Clarke and her team fail, which I expect them to. Now forget about that, and let's look through these supplies." 


	11. Meeting Harper

Matt was rummaging through the supplies, so far he had found eight tents, sleeping bags for most of the kids, shirts, shoes, pants, rations, various tools, containers, but not what he was really looking for. He let out a deep sigh. 

Unbelievable! Not one piece of winter clothing? Those idiots! Send us to a mountainous region to freeze to death. UGH!

"Something wrong?" Bellamy asked, hearing Matts sigh of dejection. 

"This is crazy man. First they send eight tents, for 100 kids. Then they send approximately no winter clothing of any kind. No jackets, no blankets, gloves, nothing. We are looking at two months, maybe three, then we all die from exposure," Matt exclaimed. 

"Look, we will figure it out, okay?" Bellamy said. 

They heard shouting outside, something was up. Walking down the ramp, Matt saw Clarke's team had already come back. 

That didn't last long, what's it been, an hour? Looks like they are a man short as well. And Octavia is hurt. First away mission, failure. 

It was hard for Matt to not laugh at the irony of all this. Finally made it back down to Earth, and he is surrounded by incompetence. He spotted the kid whose face he had rearranged sitting against a tree, walked over to help him out. 

"Hey kid, what's your name?" Matt demanded. 

The kid looked up,"Murphy."

"Well Murphy, I've got some free advice for you, okay?" Matt pointed at Wells Jaha. "Got it?" 

Murphy looked, and snorted. "Yeah, you just might have a point there." 

"Glad we are on the same page, because if you come at me again, I end you. Also, don't kill him, just toughen him up a bit. He needs it," Matt said, walking towards Clarke and her failed company, just in times to hear the news. 

"Turns out, when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder," said the Spacewalker, followed up by some very audible gasps. 

"It's true," Clarke followed up. "Everything we thought we knew about the ground was wrong. There are people here, survivors. The good news is that means we can survive here, radiation won't kill us. 

"Yeah but the bad news is the Grounders will," The spacewalker finished. 

"Whoa, they are hostile towards us? You know that for sure?" Matt interjected. 

Clarke nodded and looked to the ground. 

"Where is the kid with the goggles?" Wells asked. 

Clarke refocused. "Jasper was hit. They took him." 

"Hit with what, exactly?" Matt pressed. 

"It was a spear, thrown across a wide river. At least 100 yards," the spacewalker claimed. 

"That's the length of the old football fields we watched on tv man, no one can throw that far. But I get the point, definitely hostile. Alright then," Matt finished, walking off. 

Whatever was about to happen in the next few weeks, it was going to be fun, he mused. 

"Matt! Wait!" Clarke yelled after him. 

"We need your help, we are going after Jasper, and we could use the muscle," she whispered as she caught up to him. 

Matt sighed. "I'm just starting to get the camp set up Clarke, if you insist on going, take Bellamy. He has a gun."

"What? Where did he get that? No Matt, if you want to lead these people, you have to show them you care. Or are you afraid?" she challenged. 

Matt snorted, "Go ask Murphy how afraid I am, he is still tasting my kick over there," he motioned. "No Clarke, that's you. If YOU want these people to follow you, YOU have to show them the compassion they need. Me? I'll use fear, when the time comes. Now go use that line on Bellamy, it will work. Try not to get yourself killed for a kid you don't even know Clarke. Good luck," he finished. 

Clarke glared at him with disgust,"We are going to to talk about this when I get back," stomping off towards Bellamy. 

Matt relented a bit, "Hey Clarke, if you make it back, I'll help you treat him!" he shouted after her. 

Matt Kane was not about to risk his life for any of these kids that would much prefer him to be dead. He probably would have to be convinced to risk it for Clarke. No, he knew the stakes. His mother's last words were begging him to save his people, all of them. And he was not about to let her down. And he also was determined to avenge her murder. He looked over to see her stomping off from the Spacewalker as well. Seems like Clarke was on a different wavelength than the entire camp. Abby was right. First instinct was to help other people, no matter the risk to her own well being. 

Well I can at least help with that. 

Walking over to the Spacewalker, "Hey kid, what's your name?" 

The Spacewalker looked up, surprised. "It's Finn."

"Yeah Finn, I don't really care what your name is. Was there a specific reason you were so gung ho to go on that failed expedition to Mt. Weather? Trying to impress Clarke or something? You got any actual skills?" Matt asked sarcastically.

"Uhh yeah. I've got Earth Skills. Aced it," Finn replied, confidently.

"Oh great! Your confidence is back! Well Finn, maybe you can be useful. Now get going after Clarke and help her bring back that kid that got speared, the one you left behind," Matt pointed after Clarke, with his sword. For extra emphasis. 

Finn hesitated for a moment, then saw the still bloody sword. "Uh right, I'll do that." Finn rushed off. 

Don't ever say I didn't do anything for you Clarke. Not that I would let you forget about that massage. 

Finally thinking he had some time to himself, he walked back towards one of the tents to start putting it up, then he spotted Octavia, with literally every boy surrounding her. Her leg was bleeding, but Matt figured they were really surrounding her because she didn't have pants on. Matt sighed. 

They sent us eight tents. Eight. How many of these kids are wanting to hook up right now? I guess I will rescue Octavia, don't ever say I didn't do anything for you Bellamy. I wish you were here Mom. I literally wish it was just the two of us, think about how happy we could be. 

"Alright kids, break it up, it's not a show and she isn't interested. Go on get lost," Matt forced his way through the crowd of boys, only to come face to face to the last remaining one. 

"Hey, Bellamy said no one goes near his sister," the boy said. 

"Oh really? Then how do you explain all these boys ogling her as they have her surrounded while she bleeds?" Matt asked incredulously. 

"Ummm," the boy started. 

Matt waved him off. "Zip it. You can resume your charge after I get her on the dropship, take care of her leg and get her some new pants. Don't act too disappointed." 

Matt bent down and picked up Octavia, walking her towards the dropship.

"Who are you, where did you get the sword?" she asked, with genuine curiosity. 

"My name is Matt, I got the sword from a person that wanted me to assassinate Marcus Kane, I killed him with it instead," Matt answered. 

"Really? That guy floated my mom, I wish you had killed him," she replied with surprise. 

"Yeah, he killed my mom too, and I promise I will kill him someday," Matt answered. 

"I wonder how many other guys are saying that," she responded sarcastically. 

"A lot most likely. But I'm the only one that is his son," Matt said, softly. 

There was an awkward silence as he walked up the ramp and set her down in one of the seats. He began digging through the supplies, found her a pair of pants and a bandage. 

"Wait, are you serious?" she finally asked. 

"Let me bandage your leg, and yes, I'm serious. Marcus Kane was my father until he floated my mom right in front of me 3 weeks ago. No longer. My name is Matt Kane. You can hate me with everyone else as soon as I'm done." 

Matt wrapped the bandage around Octavia's surprisingly thick thigh, pulling it tight. She winced. 

“How are you this thick when we were all starving up there?” Matt whispered to her. 

“Hey, as far as pick up lines go, that one is pretty terrible,” Octavia grinned. 

“Right, sorry. Outcast, remember?” Matt smiled. 

“I know what it's like to not have friends. Fortunately, all you have to do is take off your shirt if you want some attention,” Octavia whispered. “You and my brother are already getting a lot of wandering eyes.”

“You aren’t exactly going to struggle either, Octavia Blake,” Matt whispered back. 

“That was a better line,” Octavia giggled.

He stood up and tossed her a pair of pants as the boy that was supposed to be "protecting" her walked in. "All yours kid," Matt finished, walking out. 

"Wait!" Octavia shouted after him. 

He stopped and listened. Didn't turn around, didn't want to create any kind of connection. 

"I'm sorry about your mom. No one should have to see something like that. You haven't done anything for me to hate you," Octavia declared. 

Matt walked away without saying a word, he heard them whispering as he went. 

The camp was starting to come together, gradually. The tents were going up, one group of kids had even built a firepit and started an actual fire. They still needed to find a close water source, Octavia had been attacked in the water, but that was an hour or so away. Matt started to think about venturing out himself but thought better of it. Food was also a problem, but the forest should be able to provide a little bit. but a better equipped expedition to Mt. Weather would probably be necessary, soon. 

Matt started back towards the dropship, he had spotted some hatchets in the supplies. Passing Octavia giving her bodyguard a hard time, who was already looking at her the way everyone else was looking at each other. 

There literally isn't gonna be a better time for you girl, no way Bellamy is letting anyone get close to you after he gets back from his rescue mission. 

Digging in the supplies he found one of those hatchets and started out towards the nearest small tree. Chopping it down in a few hacks, he hacked off the loose branches and put them in their own pile, while leaving the main trunk separate. Everything had its own use. He felt someone approaching. Again. 

He turned around and saw a cute brunette smiling at him. 

"Hey," she said. 

"Hi," Matt replied. "Whats up?"

"I'm Harper," she kept on smiling. 

She was so cute it was hard for Matt to not want to just instantly be nice to her, but he again was having a hard time figuring out what to say.

"Cool,” he managed.

"Want some help?" she smiled. 

"Sure. Okay Listen, we learned we aren't alone, and it's reasonable to assume that we are completely surrounded by people that were living here without us. We are invaders to them. They have already speared one of us. We have to defend ourselves, and right now, we have nothing to do that with. We need our own weapons. We need to build a wall. Are you even listening uh, Harper, was it?" Matt asked. 

Harper was just staring at him with wanting eyes. Totally not listening. 

This is impossible. All these kids have one thing on their mind. One of them gets speared and they just move on to the next piece of meat. Ok, fine. FINE.

Matt dropped the hatchet and moved in on Harper, grabbing her and kissing her passionately. Harper wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, because thats really all she could do. Matt held on as long as he could and finally broke the kiss with her, which left her gasping for air. 

"Oh my God," she gasped. "Can we.."

Matt kissed her again, with the same level of passion. Harper held him tightly. She was actually a really good kisser. Not that Matt had a lot of experience in this field, but it felt good. He broke the lock again, leaving her gasping for air. 

"Grab my leg.." she gasped. Kissing him and raising her leg, which he grabbed and held onto. They broke again and she backed off a bit. 

"Can I..Can I reserve us a tent for tonight?" She asked, softly. 

There are already reservations?? Good lord these kids! I am thinking of keeping us all alive, saving the Ark from a rebellion, and an oxygen failure, AND Project Exodus shortfalls, and these kids are MAKING RESERVATIONS FOR SEX. WHO is in charge of the reservations??

"You know what? Go ahead. One night," Matt gave up.  One night.

She smiled and ran off, as if every second not making a reservation was a second lost. 

Matt just sat down and leaned against a tree he was about to chop down, watching her go. Wondering if this was just going to be a silly one night stand, or something else. He would prefer neither, but if he was forced to, a one night stand. He wasn’t even sure what his status with Clarke was at this point. He spotted Harper coming back, briskly. 

"I got us a tent!" Harper said excitedly. She sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. Instinctively, he tried to pull back, but it was awkward. 

"What's wrong?" she asked, and laid down against him. "Hold me in your arms, Matt." 

Matt wrapped his arm around her. "Listen Harper, I'm not good at this." 

"Judging by your kissing ability, and your fighting ability, I would say you are actually pretty darn good at it," Harper laughed. 

What's her goal here? Does she want to be safe, so she is moving in on me? There is no way this is completely on the level. 

"I mean, I'm not used to it. No one other than my mom has ever wanted anything for me but death. I have survived a few assassination attempts, and I'm used to being on my own. So I don't know how to talk to girls. Or to make them feel special, or how to appreciate them the way they deserve, or anything in that world," Matt admitted. 

Harper sat up, turned around and kissed him again, he grabbed her and pushed her against the ground. 

"We need help, please!" Clarke shouted as she led her contingent into camp. 

Matt broke the kiss and sighed at the horrible timing.

A crowd gathered around them, and Bellamy followed in behind shouting,"Who is hungry!"

Matt started to stand up, and Harper grabbed him. "Wait Matt, we don't have to help you know," she said. 

Matt closed his eyes. "I know, I do know that, but I should Harper. I'm just gonna check in, I'll be back." 

Matt stood up and headed over to the group. They actually got out of his way, which was good, and he saw the kill, a big black cat. Clarke and Wells were carrying Jasper to the drop ship. 

"Nice kill. You still got the gun right?" Matt asked. 

"Yeah, Wells dropped it, it's empty, but I got it," Bellamy replied. 

"Why did Wells even have it?" Matt asked, surprised. 

Bellamy shrugged. 

"Ok whatever, is that kid, Jasper, actually alive?" Matt asked. 

Bellamy nodded, "Yeah, they strung him up as live bait, but they patched his wound, or something. He is alive."

Yikes. 

"Alright, I'm gonna check in with Clarke, you need help cleaning that kill?" 

"Uh, I don't actually know how to," Bellamy admitted in a low voice. 

"Well, you can't be blamed for that. Ask for anyone that has experience. But the gist of it is, cut off his head, his legs, skin him the body completely, take his organs out, cook it all individually. Good luck man," Matt said. 

"Where is Octavia?" Bellamy shouted after him. 

"Uhhhh, I patched her leg and left her with Adam. He was guarding her," Matt shrugged. 

Bellamy stomped off, Matt just grinned. Maybe Octavia and Adam got a reservation in. 

Matt looked over at Harper and smiled. She smiled back, just leaning against the tree. He was blown away by how cute she was, and actually wanted to get back to her.

Matt jogged up the ramp, climbing the ladder. Situation looked pretty bleak. Wells greeted him. 

Matt looked at him, "You kill that cat Wells? Nice job man," Matt patted Wells on the shoulder. "How is Jasper?"

"Now you care about him? You didn't even come to his rescue," Clarke snapped. 

Matt shrugged. "I motivated Finn to join you guys."

Clarke rolled her eyes. "They used some kind of poultice to patch his wound, but he is infected. If we don't get the infection down, he will die."

"Alright, I will get some water boiling, but you need to figure out some kind of medicine, I don’t think we have much of anything, so good luck with it," Matt finished, descending the ladder. 

Matt walked down the ramp, shouting at the kids around the firepit to boil some water and headed back to Harper. She was there, waiting for him. 

"How long was I gone?" Matt asked, sitting down. 

"2 and a half of the longest minutes of my life," she giggled, leaning in to kiss him. 

"How long until it's night, and when is our reservation?" Matt asked after breaking the kiss. 

"Our reservation is at 2 AM, sharp," she stated. "6 hours from now."

He looked over at the group of idiots, they were building a pyre. Not a bad idea. He still couldn’t believe the level of organization that was going into tonight’s activities.

"What should we do until then?" Matt asked her. 

"We could kiss some more. I could definitely go for that," she laughed. 

"How about we just cuddle?" Matt suggested. "I have a feeling Bellamy is about to grandstand for us." 

She leaned in and he put his arm around her. 

Just one night. 


	12. Harper's betrayal

"Whatever the hell we want!" the group was shouting, as the fire burned and they passed pieces of meat out. Bellamy had whipped them into a frenzy, building support for his leadership, the meat was extremely effective, but the motto was also stoking life into the morale, if only for a short time. The challenges ahead of them were daunting, but Matt was allowing one night of blissful ignorance. He had sent Harper in to get them some meat, and they were enjoying it at their tree. 

"What do you think of that as a motto?" Harper asked him. 

"Well, it certainly won't help us survive, but it could help us live for a short time," Matt replied. The meat was pretty tough, that told him a lot, but it could wait for later. 

Harper nuzzled up against him,"One more hour and you can show me what I was missing in solitary."

"You were in solitary?" Matt asked

"No, you were silly, you really are bad at this talking thing. It's okay," she laughed. 

Matt paused, wondering how exactly she knew that. Something was up. 

"What do you think you were missing?" Matt whispered. 

"I've heard that you and Clarke were a thing in between your fights," she whispered back. 

Matt was on high alert now, how could she possibly know that? 

"Mm. Well, I'm all about you now babe," Matt said, realizing Harper wasn’t all she seemed to be.

He noticed a girl running their way, didn't recognize her. 

"Hey, Harper. Your tent is ready."

Matt was still in shock over the level of organization these kids had in terms of these “reservations.” If they were half as good at surviving as they were at setting up one night stands, they had a chance at conquering the entire planet.

"FINALLY!" Harper exclaimed, jumping up. He stood up and looked around, most of the kids had retreated to bed, only a few stragglers were still by the fire. Even Bellamy was gone, he noticed Adam hanging from a tree and wondered how his reservation went. Based on his current predicament, Matt guessed it went a little too well for Bellamy’s liking.

She took his hand and led him towards the tents. "Which one is ours?" she asked the random girl. 

"Tent #4," the girl pointed. 

Harper led him inside and started to undress, quickly. As if they were timed. Matt surveyed the tent. A fresh sleeping bag, and a pillow. 

"Come on, get undressed, don't worry, no one is going to walk in on us," Harper urged him on. 

Matt grinned at that and sat down, his back in the corner, but not too close. He laid his sword down next to him, "You want to see what you were missing? Lets start off with one of my famous massages, take off the bra and lay on your stomach, facing away from me," he commanded. 

Harper shot him a look, but complied, lying down on her stomach after losing her bra. He took her feet in his hands and began to massage them. She responded immediately. 

"Oh my God.." she whispered. 

"Shh, scream into the pillow if you have to," as he continued. 

Harper grabbed the pillow and moaned into it, muffling her cries. Coming up to gasp for air from time to time. "Please Matt..don't stop," she whispered. 

Matt caressed her feet and moved up her ankles and to her thighs, twisting her skin in his hands, and she screamed into the pillow uncontrollably. Sure enough, the tent zipper began to move. 

Disappointed, but not surprised, Matt let go of Harper's thighs and spanked her once, then unsheathed his sword. A hand with a shiv came in and Matt cut into it, sending blood everywhere. A cry of pain followed by Harper's shout.

"Hurry and kill him!" she screamed at the intruder as she looked back, only to realize it wasn't going that way. 

Matt couldn’t help but laugh, Harper had completely misjudged the situation, and blown her cover as a consequence. There would be time to deal with her. He rushed out of the tent, somersaulting forward and coming up on his feet, the guy was holding onto his wrist and looked up, trying to create some distance. 

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Matt laughed. As he reached into the tent, and grabbed Harper's legs, pulling her out of the tent in just her bottoms. 

"No no no!" she squealed, but he was too strong, and she was numb from the massage. 

He slung her at the guy, she was busy trying to cover herself when the guy grabbed her and stood her up, using her as a human shield. 

Matt scoffed. "What's your plan here buddy? Hold your accomplice hostage in an attempt to get me to back down? I've got news for you, that's not gonna work," Matt pointed at him with his sword. 

"I'm getting out of this situation, one way or another!" the guy shouted.

"Yeah? Tell me your plan. Better yet, tell me who put you two up to this." Matt countered. "Talk fast, before you draw too much attention."

"I'm not telling you shit!" the guy said, as he held Harper, who was sobbing, covering her bare breasts. 

"Then let's just skip to the part where I kill you both," offered Matt, moving forward. 

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" the random brothel owner demanded running up, and quickly going pale. 

"Fuck outta here, girl," Matt commanded. She ran off like a deer. 

"Stay back!" the guy said. "I've got a deal coming my way, and I'm not blowing it!" 

"A deal huh? Pretty sure I blew that up before we left the Ark. But go ahead, tell me who offered you the deal,” Matt grinned. 

"I'm not telling you shit I said!" the guy was struggling with Harper, who was crying so much and couldn't stand because her legs were so numb. 

Matt sighed. "Let's move things along, it was Shumway wasn't it?

That drew a look of recognition from both the guy and Harper. The guy said nothing, and Harper just closed her eyes. 

"I'll take that as a yes. Look man, what's your name anyway? Whatever Shumway offered you two, he isn't coming through. You aren't getting anything. Nothing. And I know that for a fact," Matt informed them, leaving the door open for a nice little bow tie. 

"You don't know shit!" the guy said, desperation growing, continuing to struggle with Harper. 

"I know I killed Shumway. Remember the blood I was covered in when we were coming down? It was Shumway's," Matt smiled. He was enjoying this a little too much. 

"Whats going on here?" Bellamy demanded, walking up out of nowhere.

Matt looked at Bellamy, "These two were recruited by Shumway to kill us both before we left the Ark. He must have been trying to cover his tracks, using them as an insurance policy. No witnesses, right?"

"Did you tell them you cut Shumway's throat and whatever he promised them won't be coming?" Bellamy demanded. 

Again, that drew looks from Harper and the guy. 

"Just had now, thanks for reinforcing that fact. Look kid, let Harper go, I'll figure out a way to honor Shumway's deal. Let me guess, he promised you both your parents would be on the first dropship, or something. Look, I'll say that you and Harper did something that saved all of our lives, and they should be rewarded by having their parents join them first. Sound good?"

The guy relaxed a little bit, letting Harper fall to her knees, where she stayed, covering her bare body, crying. 

"Yeah ok, that sounds good actually. And you won't tell anybody about us?" 

"Nah man, you are good, now what's your name?" Matt offered, moving in. 

The kid relaxed, "Jason."

"Well Jason, see ya," hissed Matt, as he ran his sword right through the unsuspecting kid's stomach. Harper shrieked as the blood splattered on her and started to move away, but she was too paralyzed with fear. Even Bellamy was in shock. 

"No fucking way am I letting you escape, idiot. Who else were you working with?" Matt demanded. 

"Help.." the kid moaned, falling to his knees, he was done. 

"Yeah sure, I'll help you," finished Matt, pulling his sword out of his stomach, and quickly slicing his head clean off, again. Harper shrieked again, and the body fell to the ground as the head bounced away. 

"Oh my God..." Harper cried out, crawling towards the tent. Bellamy stopped her. 

"Wait, what do we do with her?" Bellamy asked. "Killing him fine, but her..." his voice trailed off, as he shook his head. 

"Please let me go..." Harper cried. 

Matt wiped the blood off his sword and sheathed it, forcefully, letting out a sigh. "Get your top on Harper, quickly," he commanded. 

As Harper struggled to get her bra on, Bellamy moved towards him. "Recruited by Shumway, he was more thorough than you gave him credit for, what if he recruited others?" he whispered. 

"Which is exactly why I don't trust anyone. I let her in, and look at this mess. We need to talk more in depth about it, but not here. Lets drag his body into the woods for now, and put Harper next to Adam for a little while. Yeah, I saw what you did to him, I guess he got too close to Octavia for your liking?" Matt replied. 

Bellamy shot him a look. 

"You get Jason, I'll take care of Harper," Bellamy said. 

Matt nodded, "Don't go easy on her just because she is a girl. You were her next target, remember that. String her up and I'll meet you there. Oh and grab a shovel." 

Bellamy picked Harper up and threw her over his shoulder, she just cried. Matt grabbed Jason's feet and dragged him into the woods. Then he retrieved his head and tossed it next to the corpse. Hoping he didn’t have a head slicing addiction, he turned towards Bellamy and Harper.

Walking over to them, Harper was hanging up there where Adam had been, Bellamy must have let him go.. Lucky guy. Bellamy was holding a shovel at the foot of the tree. Matt looked up and made eyecontact with Harper, who was still in tears. 

Matt sighed and pulled Bellamy a little further away. 

"Alright so, Jason and Harper were recruited by Shumway as an insurance policy, stands to reason he recruited others, do you know what Jason was in for? I'm guessing it was murder. How many other kids were in for murder? That's who Shumway would logically target. Well, whoever was pulling his strings, I'm still not giving that patsy credit," Matt whispered. 

"I don't know for sure, but I agree with that line of thinking. He probably targeted killers, I'll ask around to find out who was in for what. I'll start with the ones I know are not in for murder, Finn probably, Monty too. In the meantime, what about Harper? Why was she targeted?" Bellamy asked. 

"How do you know she wasn't in for murder?" Matt asked seriously. 

Bellamy shot him a look, and then looked up at her, "Come on man, something that cute in for murder? No way. Let's ask her." 

Matt nodded and followed Bellamy. "Harper, why were you recruited by Shumway, what were you locked up for?" Bellamy demanded. 

Harper looked down at them with pleading eyes, "Please let me go, I don't know why he recruited me, he just said if I helped him, I would get a full pardon and my parents would be on the first dropship down. I didn't even have to do anything, I just had to run a distraction effort while the guys did the work."

"Who were the other guys Harper, talk!" Bellamy commanded. 

"I don't know, Shumway just said they would approach me with the code word "Grace," she stammered. 

Matt scoffed and looked away with disgust.  MY MOTHER? REALLY? YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED SHUMWAY. YOU, THE BIG DUMB IDIOT, JASON, AND FUCKING HARPER. 

"Hey!" Bellamy grabbed him, "You okay?"

"Yeah man, they just used my mom's name as their fucking codeword, so I'm a little upset."

Bellamy nodded to him, "That's sick. Look I've got this. Go cool off and come back in a bit."

Matt nodded and stormed off, for some reason, he really did trust Bellamy. He couldn't figure that out, but it made sense to him. He walked back to the tree he had spent so much time with Harper at, picked up the hatchet he had left there and chopped it down violently, then headed back to the drop ship for whatever reason. And out came Clarke, the absolute last person he wanted to see.

Matt immediately turned and tried to walk away but it was too late. 

"Matt!" She called out to him. "What is going on out here, I thought I heard some screaming, and..why are you covered in more blood? Hey! Talk to me," Clarke demanded. 

"Can I just..not right now Clarke? Go back to sleep. I don't have time for this," Matt urged. 

Matt continued to try to walk away, but she wasn't having it. "No Matt. Tell me what's going on with you," Clarke wasn't letting up. 

Matt looked at her, "This is clearly not a good time to have that talk you were pushing for, okay? Can you please just get lost?"

"No Matt, something is wrong. and it's not just the fact you are covered in blood that clearly is not yours. Wait, what is that?" Clarke asked as she spotted Bellamy. 

Matt sighed, it was too late now.

Clarke stormed over to Bellamy, Matt following behind. Pointing up at Harper, "Why do you have a girl hanging from a tree in her underwear?" she demanded. 

Bellamy smiled, even Matt could barely stifle a laugh. 

"Not now Princess. Get back to bed," Bellamy replied. 

"It's over man, we are gonna have to bring Clarke in, she doesn't ever let things go. Did Harper say anything useful?" Matt asked. 

"Only that she was in for theft, which I will verify tomorrow, once we decide what to do with her," Bellamy answered. 

"Decide what to do with her? What does that even mean? What did she do?" Clarke demanded. 

Matt threw up his hands, "We will tell you why she digs the hole, Bellamy get her down," he relented. 

Bellamy let Harper down and she fell to her knees, Clarke consoled her and Bellamy grabbed the shovel. "Lets move out, help her up Princess," Bellamy ordered. 

They walked over to where Matt had deposited Jason's headless body and Clarke let out a gasp, "Oh my God, what happened? What did you do?" 

"I think it's obvious isn't it? Harper, dig his grave, that's your punishment. To start. The longer it takes the longer your punishment lasts," Matt commanded. Sit down Clarke, it's time to tell you the story." 

Matt went through the motions, telling Clarke how he had been recruited in the skybox, how he made his decision to go with Abby and side against the insurrection, how Bellamy had been recruited to kill Jaha, how he killed the two rebels, including Shumway, and how, painfully, Harper had seduced him and tried to set him up to be assassinated by Jason. All while Harper dug the grave. They were making her dig a deep hole. And she was struggling. Stopping to cry, she couldn’t stop looking at Jason’s body.

'Oh my God Matt. You killed all those people," Clarke whispered. 

Matt scoffed. "It's only three so far Clarke. What would you have me do? When you get approached to participate in a coup, you essentially have three options. Say yes and fully commit, say no and likely get murdered before you snitch, or, kill the would be assassins. That's it." 

Bellamy nodded as Clarke looked to the ground, and then over to Harper, who had given up. 

"Now what Matt?" Clarke asked. 

Matt stood up and dragged Jason's body and slung it into the hole, next to Harper, who started sobbing. He then kicked the severed head in there with her. Matt squatted down next to the hole and stared down at Harper. 

"Alright Harper. Would you like to get out of the hole? Or you want to lie down there next to your partner in crime, forever?" Matt asked, twisting the knife.

"Please, I'm sorry Matt," Harper sobbed. 

"Oh? What are you sorry for Harper? Making me feel like a human being? Like it was possible for someone to want me? To love me? Or are you sorry you got caught, and your life is now in the hands of your would be victims? Tell me, why exactly did you decide I was the easier of the targets, after seeing how I rearranged Murphy's face?" Matt challenged. 

Clarke put her hands on his shoulder. "Matt..."

Matt waved her off. "Alright Harper, you want out of the hole? You have to commit to us. Me and Bellamy. There is no choice here. Shumway is dead, your pardon isn't coming, and neither are your parents unless I say so. All you have is the group. So if anyone approaches you again, says the code word, anything, you commit to it, and then you tip us off. Because if this happens again, not this obviously, this method would never work again, but if anything like it happens again, you go in the hole and you don't come out. Do you understand?"

Harper nodded, sobbing. 

"I want to hear the words Harper, say you will never betray us, say you want to be part of the group," Matt commaned. 

"I will never. Betray you. Again Matt. I swear," Harper pleaded.

Matt stood up, whispering to Bellamy, "I don't believe her, but we will let her go, and we will keep her secret, but WATCH her. Get her out of the hole, and fill it up. Sun is coming up soon. Figure out who is in the camp that was imprisoned for murder, and check Harper's story of theft. When people notice Jason is missing, if people notice Jason is missing, we will blame the grounders. Cool?" 

Bellamy nodded, "I guess its getting real, are you okay man? That was pretty rough with Harper. That entire ordeal." 

Matt nodded, looking down at Clarke helping Harper out of the grave, "I let my guard down ever so slightly for one night, I let someone in. Never again. From now on, it's war."

Clarke glared at him as she walked away with Harper, but Matt wasn’t interested, he made his way to a new tree and stared off into the night. 

He wasn’t there long when he heard someone headed his way. Figuring it was Clarke, if she wanted to fight, he was more than willing to give it to her.

“Clarke wait!” he heard Bellamy whisper. 

“No Bellamy, I don’t care, this cannot stand,” Clarke retorted, they were fighting about something, Matt didn’t really care what. 

“Hey! Matt! What's wrong with you? You blow me off when I wanted to rescue Jasper, then you  behead  someone, then you torture a poor girl unneccessarily, what the hell! When Bellamy said whatever the hell we want, this is not what he meant! You are way out of bounds! Explain yourself!” Clarke demanded. 

“Get out of my fucking sight Clarke! I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Matt retorted. 

“Or else what? You are gonna cut my head off next? Screw you Matt! You are wrong!” Clarke shot back. 

“Wrong about what, exactly? Shumway hired assassins to kill me, and I dealt with it! You don’t like my methods? Oh fucking well!” Matt snapped back at her. 

“You can’t blame kids for falling for Shumway’s offers! Dangling a pardon, or their parents well being, who would turn that down?” Clarke asked. 

“People that want to live for one! Murder for hire comes with consequences Clarke! Jason figured that out the hard way,” Matt waved her off. 

“Harper didn’t try to kill you! And you hung her from a tree and threw her in a hole with a corpse!” Clarke pressed. 

“So? She was an accomplice, she pretended to love me, and she betrayed me. At least she still has her head!’ Matt countered. 

“No Matt! She didn’t pretend to love you, she pretended to want to sleep with you, there is a difference! One night stands aren’t love! Literally everyone in the camp is having one right now!” Clarke yelled. 

“Like I said, she is still alive! What do you want from me?” Matt demanded. 

“I want you to not be like your father!” Clarke exclaimed. 

“WHAT?” Matt demanded, drawing his sword and turning to face Clarke, who took a noticeable step back. 

Bellamy quickly came between them. “That's enough, back down and sheath that sword,” staring Matt down. 

“Fuck you Clarke, I’m nothing like my father,” Matt snapped, sheathing the sword and turning away from her. 

Bellamy turned and pulled Clarke to the side, she resisted but he insisted, “I told you a direct confrontation won’t work, we have to try something else. He is still riding that adrenaline high. Try to bring him back down by going over what happened with Harper at the tree. That's when he snapped,” Bellamy whispered. 

“Fine. What happened at the tree Matt?” Clarke started again. 

“Like you said Clarke, a girl got hung in her underwear,” Matt waved her off.

Bellamy motioned to Clarke, who continued, “Before I got there, you were off hacking down a random tree. Why?”

“That was the tree Harper and I sat at all night. I removed it from my eyesight. Too bad I can’t figure out how to remove you,” Matt answered. 

Bellamy motioned again, and Clarke went on, “Why did you leave Harper and Bellamy?”

Matt scoffed, it was a painful memory, “Harper pissed me off when she told me about the fucking codeword.”

Bellamy nodded to her, and she asked the obvious, “What codeword?”

Bellamy answered this time, “Harper said Shumway gave the guys a codeword to tell her when it was time to act.” 

Clarke looked at them both, Matt could feel his rage coming again, and she asked, ”What was the codeword?”

Bellamy sighed, “Grace,” he whispered. 

Clarke recoiled in shock, as Matt let out a howl and sliced a tree branch off a random tree in front of him with one swing of his sword, before sheathing it again and staring off into the distance. 

They stood there in silence, Clarke struggling to form words as Matt just boiled. Finally Clarke whispered, “You were right, a direct confrontation was wrong.” 

She took a step forward, “Matt, look at me.” Matt didn’t move. She slowly circled around to face him directly. As she inched closer to him, he got more uncomfortable, until she was close enough so she could embrace him in a hug. 

“Hug me back Matt,” she whispered in his ear. Bellamy looked on as Matt slowly raised his arms to hug her back. 

“Come back down. Come back down here with me,” she whispered. She started to hum as his heart rate slowed and the tension left his body. “You are okay Matt, just hold on to me,” she whispered again. Matt held on, as Clarke hummed some more. The minutes ticked by and they finally broke apart. 

“Thanks Clarke,” Matt whispered. 

She looked right into his eyes, “Everything that happened tonight, was wrong. And we are going to work together to fix it, the three of us.” 

Matt nodded, and Clarke started back towards camp with Bellamy. 

He heard Bellamy whisper, “Hopefully we don’t have to do that again.” 

No shit, Matt thought to himself.


	13. Harper's Penance

Day 2

Matt was leaning up against a tree, watching the sunrise. Add that to the list of amazing things he had witnessed in the last 48 hours. He had decided to take the day off, he told Bellamy to start the group on a wall and he would be around if needed, but he still needed some time to process last night. Bellamy understood, he himself had spent the night with two girls and sent them on their way. Maybe that was a better approach. They were going to start daily check ins with each other to cover current events, which suffice to say, there was a lot going on. 

As he was thinking about Harper, and how disappointed he was, his train of thought was interrupted by a scream from Jasper. It had been going on for about 2 hours, and morale was sinking. Bellamy wanted to put him out of his misery, but Clarke shut that down. Matt didn't support that either, the kid had gotten speared, that wasn't a fair shake. Nothing like Jason, who essentially threw in with the wrong side and paid for it. He spotted Adam coming his way. 

"We are heading out to hunt, also to search for the three missing kids. Jason, Trina and Pascal. You need anything?" Adam asked. 

Matt shook his head, "No. I'm good. Why are you talking to me man? You're supposed to hate me, remember?" 

Adam shrugged. "Bellamy said you convinced him to take me down from the tree last night, since I fought off a bunch of kids hovering over Octavia. You gave me credit for what you did. Figured you weren't so bad." 

Matt nodded. "Yeah okay. How was your reservation?"

Adam perked up, "We made out, it was pretty awesome. I ended it with Octavia though, I don't want that trouble. What about you and Harper?" 

Matt sighed. "Crashed and burned." 

Adam was curious, "Really, she was all over you man, like she was staking her claim in the loudest possible way. You saying it was a fakeout so she could steal from you?"

"Something like that. I'd rather not discuss it if you know what I mean, your secret is safe with me, be careful on your hunting trip, and keep an eye out for those kids, whoever they are," Matt finished. 

Adam ran off, Matt shaking his head, wishing for the days where he was an outcast. Now he spotted Clarke approaching him, and he wished even harder. 

"Hey!" Clarke said. "We figured out the poultice was made from seaweed, we are going to get some. I'm not asking you to come, but could you keep an eye on Jasper? Bellamy wants to kill him, and I think he set something up."

Matt sighed. "Yeah okay Clarke, I doubt it, but I will watch him. Good luck out there."

Matt started off for the drop ship but Clarke grabbed him. "Hey, are you okay? Listen, last night was..crazy. It was crazy Matt. You shouldn't have kept all those things from me about Shumway. Can we talk later? Like, really talk?" 

Matt shrugged. "Alright Clarke. Just don't tell anyone else about last night, not Wells, certainly not Finn, no one." 

As she walked off, he yelled after her, “Hey Clarke? Thanks for helping me last night.”

She nodded and they went their separate ways. Matt went up the ladder and found Octavia and Monty tending to Jasper.

They both stood up and stepped between Jasper and Matt. "What are you doing here?" Octavia demanded. 

"Relax girl, Clarke asked me to guard Jasper, so here I am. Now if you will excuse me, I'm gonna find a corner to be alone in." 

Matt sat down in one of the seats and relaxed, closing his eyes. He wasn't worried about those two, so he let his mind wander. They still needed a water source, the cat had tough meat, so that meant that he had been eating well, a good sign. The wall was starting to go up, and Wells had even hung a sign on the front of the drop ship, Camp Exodus. They just needed to figure out communications, talking to the Ark had to move to the top of the list. His mind started to drift to Harper and he didn't care for it. 

Maybe I should check in on her, last night was pretty rough. Then again, she tried to kill me. Screw this entire process, he mused.

Matt opened his eyes at a noise coming from the kids, and Monty had snapped off Octavia's wristband. He noticed his, he had pretty much forgotten about it. 

"What are you kids doing over there?" Matt asked. 

"Trying to set up comms with the Ark, if I can build a radio and use the frequency the wristbands to establish a connection, we can make contact. Hope to have it up and running by tonight," Monty replied. 

"Wow, thats impressive Monty. I haven't even had time to start on that, looks like I don't need to. Let me know if you need help," Matt said. 

"Too busy with Harper, huh?" Octavia asked.

Matt sighed. "Something like that."

She started to respond but he raised his hand "Don't. Don't talk about Harper okay? It didn't happen, and its over," Matt said dejectedly.

To his surprise, Octavia didn't press it, and instead started whispering to Monty. It seems like everyone was equally shocked at last night's result, for very different reasons. Suddenly, the kids all came running into the drop ship. Something was up. 

"Whats going on?" Monty asked. 

"Go check it out I'll watch Jasper," Matt ordered. Jasper's cries were going to be a problem if everyone packed into the dropship. 

He heard a girl say the air had gotten thick and everyone's skin had started to burn. 

They closed the dropship door and everyone hunkered down, for what was going to be a long day. Octavia was worried about her brother, Monty offered her reassurances, and instead of thinking about Clarke, Matt thought about Harper. As the day dragged on, there was nothing that could be done except try to get some rest. And Jasper was making that impossible. It was only a matter of time before someone cracked and made a move. Matt was fine with it, he was confident he could defuse any situation, as long as the person coming up the ladder wasn't Harper, and he knew it wouldn't be. He was placing his chips on Murphy. 

There was a commotion downstairs, and Monty came racing up the ladder, "Murphy is going to kill Jasper!" he shouted. 

Matt stood up, and motioned to Monty, "Let him come up, he has no idea I'm here." Monty was skeptical, but he backed away from the opening. 

Murphy came charging up and came face to face with Matt. "Oh..shit," Murphy said, realizing his dilemma. 

Matt just smiled. "I bet if you knew I was up here, you would have never come up that ladder Murphy. Just go back down, and we won't have a problem, other than Jasper's cries. I know it's a bad man, but Clarke is on her way back with treatment, and it will work. Now go on," Matt motioned. 

Murphy backed down, and headed for the ladder. Matt stopped him momentarily. "Hey, what exactly is going on outside?" he asked.

"Some kind of..yellow mist that blew into camp, it burns on contact," Murphy said, not very sure of himself. 

"That actually sounds pretty problematic. Hope it's not too common," Matt offered. Murphy headed down the ladder, Monty closed the hatch behind him, looking at Matt. 

"You handled that just by making eye contact with him. Something happen between you two while we were out there?" Monty asked. 

Even Octavia was staring at him. "Yeah, he attacked me, I knocked him out. Ever since, people have been giving me a wide berth," Matt sighed. 

"Except Harper," Octavia chimed in. 

"Yeah, except Harper. Get back on the radio Monty, nothing else is gonna happen until the mist clears," Matt waved them off and returned to his corner, and thoughts. 

Hours passed, Jasper continued to groan, the kids downstairs were either resting or restless. Matt heard some noises outside and figured it was either Clarke or the hunting party, so he headed down the ladder. He looked around the room and there was Harper, sitting in her own corner, staring out into space. She made eye contact with him and he sighed. He was going to have to talk to her, get her confidence back up, something. Maybe Clarke could help him. He pulled the lever and opened the door. 

Clarke was there waiting with Finn and Wells. "What happened here, did the acid fog reach the camp? How is Jasper?" she asked hurriedly. 

"Jasper is alive, no thanks to some bad actors, but I put it down without much fuss," Matt replied, looking back at the drop ship, "All Clear!" he shouted. 

The kids poured out, as if it was the first time all over again. Harper was last, Clarke saw her, then looked at Matt. "Okay, boil some water for me again, and I will help Jasper, then we will talk."

Octavia came down the ladder, Clarke was trying to delay her for some reason, but she pressed on, Matt followed her gaze and saw Bellamy and his hunting party, surrounded by the group of hungry kids. 

"Octavia, just stay back! Stay.." Bellamy tried, as she pushed back him. Matt followed, figuring it was bad. 

He got there in time to see Octavia pull back the blanket covering a dead body. It was Adam, with burns all over him. Bellamy tried to console her but she wasn't having it, running off, probably in tears. 

"What happened?" Matt whispered. 

"It was the acid fog, he got caught in it, I tried to get to him, but it burns on contact, I couldn't," Bellamy lamented. 

"Yeah that's what the kids were saying. Its not your fault man. At least you brought him back. Did you find the other two missing kids?" Matt asked. 

Bellamy shook his head. 

"The fog probably got them too, wherever they were. That brings the death toll to 6, in less than 2 days. I'm gonna help Clarke, put someone on burial duty. Then get these kids back on the wall, we lost a lot of time. And make sure they understand, no one leaves the camp," Matt finished. 

He made sure the fire pit was burning again so they could boil some water. Harper was sitting there, staring into it. He considered his options, but she surprised him. 

"Matt! Please come over here," she motioned to him. 

Relenting, je walked over and sat down, opposite of her, the fire in between them. He looked into the fire as well. 

"Can you even look at me Matt?" she asked. 

He looked up at her, or rather, through her. "Yeah, I can look at you," Matt whispered. 

"You still think I'm cute?" she prodded. 

Matt sighed. "Harper, I don't think I will ever look at anyone that way again. Ever." 

Harper sighed,"Thats..not what I wanted Matt." He started to respond with indignation but she cut him off, "Please don't! Don't say it. I know. What I wanted, was you dead, and then Bellamy, and then Clarke. I know thats what you're going to say, and you're right. But that didn't happen, and now Jason is..dead, and I'm stuck here, living with it," she finished. 

"You can always go back in the hole," Matt countered, instantly regretting it. 

Harper looked at him, "Please don't be cruel Matt. Last night was...horrible. It was so horrible.. Did you even sleep last night?"

"No Harper, in fact, I haven't slept since I was in Clarke's cell," he admitted. 

"That's where I blew my cover, right? I'm sorry Matt," she said. 

"Also when you shouted at Jason to kill me, that kinda blew your cover entirely. And don't say your sorry anymore Harper, that's all I heard last night," he waved at her. 

"Matt, last night was insane. It was  insane . One second I'm getting the massage of a lifetime, then the next I'm being pulled out of the tent, naked, being held hostage, naked, then you  cut Jason's head off , hung me from a tree in my underwear, interrogated me, humiliated me, made me dig a hole, threw me in the hole, threw Jason's body in the hole,  threw his head in the hole , I just wanted out of the hole Matt! I would have said anything, done anything, to get out! Oh my God," she pleaded, burying her head in her hands.

Realizing they were in a death spiral, Matt ran his own hand through his hair, "I guess last night did go off the rails," he whispered. The water was boiling, he needed a break. He took the container off the fire. "Okay, I'm going to take this to Clarke. I'll be right back okay? Stay here," he offered, standing up to leave. She nodded as he walked towards the ship. 

He was trying to figure out what in the world he was supposed to do here. He definitely needed help. 

He headed up the ladder and gave the water to Clarke. "Thank you," she replied. "How are things going out there?" 

Matt sighed. "Well, Adam is dead, Octavia blames Bellamy, and I'm having it out with Harper. Other than, things are going just swell." 

Clarke stared back at him for a moment. "How is that going?"

Matt knelt down next to her, "She offered a line by line recap of everything that happened last night, and I feel like we are in a nosedive straight to the ground with no way to pull out of it," he sighed. 

Clarke kept staring. "That's awful, listen, I said I would help you, and I will," she whispered. 

"Whats going on?" the Spacewalker asked loudly. Clarke and Matt both waved him off emphatically. 

"Quiet Finn," Clarke said. "Can I make a suggestion?" she whispered to Matt. 

"Please," Matt responded, throwing up his hands. "I will take anything at this point."

"Pardon her," Clarke whispered. 

"Pardon her for what?" Finn demanded. 

"SHUT THE HELL UP FINN! You are not part of this, now or ever!" Matt shouted back. He looked at Clarke, "You are talking about forgiveness, really? After less than 24 hours?”

"Not forgiveness Matt. A pardon. Forgiveness takes time, and has to be earned, and I would never tell you to forgive her, not after last night," Clarke held her hand up at Finn, stopping him before he could even think about butting in again. 

Matt sighed. "Alright Clarke, that's not bad actually. Come see us when you are done, I picked up some new intel that you need to hear about, And Clarke? Come by yourself," Matt finished, glaring at Finn and heading out. 

He walked down the ramp and looked at Harper, who was still sitting there, and held up his hand, telling her to wait there, he needed to find Bellamy. He spotted him standing beside a tree, watching over the camp. 

"You doing okay?" Bellamy asked. "I've been watching your back, making sure no one bothered you two. Looked like it got pretty rough there. Good idea to step away for a bit." 

"Yeah man, I needed a break. She gave me a line by line recap of last night, I didn't even know what to say. Clarke gave me an idea though, and I want to run it past you. She suggested a pardon," Matt offered. 

"A pardon? Thats not a bad idea. Let her go without forgiving her. I checked her story, she was telling the truth about being in for theft. And I found a couple of other guys that were in for murder, Dax is the one that bothers me the most, physically tough, beat a man to death. I figure if there are more insurance policies, he tops the list." 

"Okay, you can point him out to me later. Also, Harper confessed that Clarke was also a target. Shumway probably didn't want to take any chances knowing we were together, figured I was confiding in her. That is probably it, I seriously doubt he put Octavia on the list, had you had any contact with her in the last few months?" Matt asked. 

"It had been over a year, so no. That concerns me though," Bellamy sighed. 

"You have been keeping her close anyways, but we need to tip Clarke off. She has been leaving camp a lot, we need to make sure she is always with someone. Wells and Finn are attached to her hip, but they don't offer a lot protection wise," Matt said flatly. 

"Wells killed that black cat, and he is physically big compared to the rest of these kids, he could be a decent deterrent. But you are right, maybe you should reconnect with Clarke," Bellamy offered. 

"Thats out, I'm not getting close to any females after last night. I'll keep an eye on her though. As long as she is in camp, she should be ok. Dax, or whoever, won't try anything so open. The question I have is, were they recruited together? Does Dax know that Jason was in on the plan? And now that Jason is missing, how safe is Harper?" 

Bellamy sighed. "Changing topics, let me ask you something. It's a little more close to home. When exactly was your mother floated?”

“Two weeks ago, why?” Matt growled.

“If Clarke was right about anything last night, it's that you pushed way beyond what I meant with ‘whatever the hell we want.’ You are still riding the adrenaline high from killing Shumway and that other guy, on top of the rage you feel from seeing your mom get floated. You are a ticking time bomb, anyone challenges you and you are throwing down. You have to bring it down Matt. Are we surrounded by killers? Yeah. But if you start looking at everyone as a threat, they are going to rise up against you. What happened last night, that can’t happen again. I should have stopped it, next time I will. Okay?” Bellamy pressed.

“Yeah, I got it Bellamy. Loud and clear. I’ll work on it. Starting with pardoning Harper. Ready?” Matt relented.

“One more thing okay? You were right about something last night. Murder for hire has consequences. What happened to Jason, I’m with you on that. It could have been handled better, but I’m not arguing against the results. No one is going to complain about one less killer in the camp. Now come on, let's go take care of Harper,” Bellamy pressed. “Think we are ever going to be able to relax and really do whatever the hell we want down here?" 

"It doesn't look like it, but I like the motto at least," Matt replied, heading back towards the firepit, where Harper waited. Clarke was coming out of the dropship, and spotted them. Matt waved her towards the firepit and Harper and they all came together, sitting down. 

"Alright, thanks to Harper's honesty, we got some new intel that says Clarke was also targeted by Shumway," Matt started. 

"What!?" Clarke exclaimed, looking at Harper. 

"It's true, he knew about you two I guess, and he instructed me to work to kill the three of you," Harper whispered. 

"Just us? No one else, not my sister?" Bellamy pushed. 

Harper shook her head. 

Matt started again, “The remaining problem is, we don't know how many people Shumway recruited, and we don't know who else. Harper insists she doesn't know, and I don't doubt her. Only share the intel that you have to share, and nothing else. Less loose ends," he finished. 

"Based on what Harper's offer was, I believe it was guys that were in for murder, with family still alive. No orphans. My biggest suspect right now is Dax, but there could be more. And it might not be limited to murderers, but I do think we can eliminate the orphans. So that leaves roughly, 70 or so people that could be part of a plot to kill us. Along with an army of grounders," Bellamy said flatly. 

"So what do we do, wait for them to try and hope we are strong enough to fight them off? I don't have a sword Matt, and even if I did, I'm not a fighter," Clarke lamented. 

"For now yes, we don't have a lot of options. We have to keep the group focused on the external threat, build the wall. As for you Clarke, stay close to the people you know, no leaving the camp, and definitely don't leave the camp alone. And don't bring anyone else in on this. That means don't tell Wells, and don't tell Finn. He is already snooping around, get him off of it. I don't care how," Matt snapped. 

"Don't snap at me, I think Finn can help us with this," Clarke shot back. 

Bellamy tried to signal Clarke to bring the decibel level down, but Matt was already pushing back. 

"I don't trust him, okay Clarke? At all. He wasted three months of oxygen up there and now the Ark has less than three months to live. The kid is an idiot. Look, I'm serious Clarke, do you know what the best way to keep a secret is?" Matt pushed. 

Harper and Bellamy looked shocked at that news, but that was for later. "Yeah Matt, okay? It's to tell as few people as possible," Clarke sighed. 

"No Clarke, it's not," Matt responded, drawing his sword out from its sheath. "Its to kill everyone that knows it, it's that simple. Do you understand what I'm saying?" She was looking at him in shock now too. "I'm saying, if you tell Finn about this, if you tell anyone about this, without my expressed permission, I'm killing them," he finished. 

"Okay, you win Matt," Clarke said softly. 

Matt sheathed his sword, he was more tired than he thought, but he had to keep going. 

"All right Harper, it's been suggested, and agreed upon, that we pardon you for your crimes," Matt started.

Harper looked surprised. "What?"

"I'm not saying I am forgiving you, or we are good, or we are hooking back up, or anything like that. I'm just saying..you don't have to worry about going back in the hole, alright? Go back to being a part of the group, no more sitting alone in corners. Mingle, make friends, sleep around, laugh, smile, have fun while you can. Contribute. I'm not going to bother you, you have nothing to be afraid of. You are pardoned Harper," Matt finished. 

Harper sighed in relief. "Thank you Matt." 

"Now go on get out of here," Matt waved her off. She left, seemingly relieved, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders, or the depths of a hole.

Bellamy and Clarke were both looking at him. "You did the right thing," Bellamy stated. 

Clarke nodded, "When was the last time you slept Matt?" she asked.

Matt sighed. "I haven't slept since I was in your bed in the skybox Clarke." 

Clarke shot him a look, and then motioned to Bellamy. "Thanks Matt. Look, I wanted to talk to you about something else, but it can wait, you need to get some sleep. You look exhausted. Everything you have done, it's helped us. But even you have to sleep," she said, pulling him to his feet. 

"And where exactly do you think a safe place for me to sleep is? Where I don't have to worry about getting killed?" Matt asked, coldly. 

"She is right, use my tent. I will watch your back. Get some rest man, I can handle things for a while," Bellamy jumped in.

Matt relented. It sounded like a good idea. "Ok, I'm trusting you on this, lead the way." 

He headed towards the tent with Bellamy, not even bothering to say anything to Clarke. The idea of getting some good sleep sounded better by the second. 

"Can I sleep next to you?" a little girl asked, even smaller than Harper. She looked like she was about 12. 

Matt looked, "No, you cannot. Go sleep next to Clarke, that's more her thing. No one is sleeping next to me. Now go on little girl," Matt waved her off coldly. 

"I'm not little," she whispered, stomping off. 

Not caring, Matt entered the tent, Bellamy said he would be there until he woke up, and Matt believed him. They were probably the only two that understood what was going on, not even Clarke was taking it as seriously as she should be. He took the sword off his back, set it down next to his pillow, laid down and was asleep within 5 minutes. What a day. 


	14. Wells Jaha

Day 3

"FLOAT HIM! FLOAT HIM! FLOAT HIM!"

Matt woke up to the chant, thinking it was a nightmare but they were shouting it from outside. Drawing his sword, he exited the tent expecting to find a mob in front of him but instead saw the mob was standing across the camp, chanting for Bellamy. 

Bewildered, Matt rushed over, sword in hand, as the mob gave way to his presence, he found Clarke, Bellamy, and Murphy standing in the middle, Clarke with a shiv in her hand. They saw him approaching, and they all looked relieved for different reasons. 

"Matt!" Clarke shouted.

"What the hell is going on here?" Matt demanded. 

Clarke pointed at Murphy,"Murphy KILLED Wells!" 

"What?? Wait..WHAT!!?? Wells is dead??" Matt stammered. He couldn't believe it. 

"It wasn't me!" Murphy shouted back. 

"Stop lying! I found your knife with his fingers next to it. It was you! You hated him!" Clarke shrieked. 

"Clarke stop! He said it wasn't him, and you have whipped this mob up into a frenzy, they want to kill him! Is that what you want to do?" Matt demanded.

"No, that's not..I mean, that's not what i meant," she stammered. 

Matt sheathed his sword and walked towards her, wide awake now. "Give me the knife," he held his hand out. She handed it to him. "Good, now back up. Go on, step back!" he commanded. She took a few steps back. 

Matt turned around and looked at Murphy. "Okay Murphy, first of all, is Wells really dead?" Matt inquired.

"Yeah, we found him outside the wall, throat slashed, we buried him this morning," Murphy said, quietly. 

"Did you kill him?" Matt pressed. 

"No," Murphy replied. 

"Is this your knife?" Matt pressed on. 

"Yeah, but I didn't do it," Murphy replied, pushing back harder. 

"When was the last time you saw your knife?" Matt finished.

"I don't..I don't know. I lost it," Murphy said, quietly again. 

"You need to think about that answer Murphy. Try to remember when the last time you saw your knife was, and I'll come back to it. In the meantime, I'm taking the case over. You’re not cleared yet, but you aren't about to get floated without a fair investigation. Now step back a little," Matt commanded. 

Matt turned around to face the much quieter mob. "I'm taking over the investigation! We are not on the Ark! We don't just float people that we THINK are guilty! We might be building a screwed up society, but that's not going to be a feature! We are going to find out what really happened to Wells! And if it was Murphy, then we will decide how to proceed from there in a calm, fair manner. Now get back to work! Bellamy! You're with me. Let's move," Matt finished. 

He turned around and motioned to Murphy when Clarke interrupted him,"I'm coming too! I want to find out what happened just as much as you!" 

"And you will find out at the same time as everyone else, when I tell the group what happened Clarke! You have caused enough trouble, you are too close to this, too emotional, you are out. Bellamy and I will solve the case. If we need you, we will come get you. Now go on," he pointed away. She was furious, but so was Matt. He took one nap and Wells got himself killed, and chaos had engulfed the camp. 

"Clarke!" he shouted after her. She stopped. "I'm sorry about Wells, I am. I promise, I will bring the killer to justice. For you." She continued to pace away. 

He turned to Bellamy and Murphy. “Thanks man,” whispered Murphy. 

“Don’t thank me yet, I’ve got a job for you and you aren’t gonna like it. Let's head to the cemetery,” Matt scoffed. 

They walked over to the cemetery, which was outside the wall. “Bellamy and I will keep a look out, Murphy, dig up Wells. I need to examine his body,” Matt ordered. 

“Are you serious?” Murphy asked, incredulous. 

“Yep. Dig,” Matt answered. Looking at Bellamy, “How long was I asleep? What the hell happened man? When did Wells get killed?”

“You slept for over 11 hours, I was standing guard for most of it, I had Miller relieve me for a few hours. Wells got killed in the late evening, I think. Probably not long after you went to bed. We found him outside the wall so we thought it was grounders. Clarke was really sad, but said not to wake you, there was nothing that could be done. Then Octavia and Jasper found the knife, along with his fingers, and Clarke went nuts,” Bellamy whispered. 

“Yeah the chants woke me up, what is that man? You can’t let mob justice rule. Look, Murphy is a dick, but even he isn’t stupid enough to murder Wells and leave his own knife at the crime scene,” Matt replied.

“Standing right here,” Murphy said. 

“Keep digging,” Matt shot back. 

“I’m done, here he is,” Murphy deadpanned. 

Matt looked down, and there was Wells. Disappointment flooded over, but he had to focus. 

“Alright get out of there, let me take a look. You said his throat was cut?” Matt asked, jumping down. 

Matt looked at Wells’ throat, the blood was dry, but it wasn’t cut through. 

“Looks like a puncture wound to the side of the neck, he bled out, probably reached towards his killer and they got scared and slashed at his hand, cutting his fingers off. Sloppy,” Matt finished, climbing out of the grave. 

“Wait. What did you say, a single puncture wound?” Bellamy asked, with surprise in his voice.

“Yeah. Is that familiar to you?” Matt inquired. 

Bellamy nodded. “That's how Clarke put Adam out of his misery,” he whispered. 

“Are you sure Bellamy?” Matt pressed. 

“Are you saying Clarke killed Wells?” Murphy asked, stupidly.

“No Murphy, shut up. Bellamy, are you certain? Get down there and look at his neck,” Matt pressed on. 

Bellamy jumped down and examined Wells. “It's the same as Adam. I’m sure.” 

“Okay, Murphy, fill the hole back up. Say nothing to no one, and join us in the dropship when you are done. Bellamy, lets go.”

They both walked to the dropship, there were some kids there, doing whatever, and Finn was with Clarke. He didn’t have time for any of it. 

“Everybody out!” Matt commanded. 

“What did you find out?” Clarke demanded. 

“Wells is dead. It probably was not Murphy, that's all I got so far. Now get out of here and let me do my work,” Matt waved them off. 

“We have a right to..” Finn started. 

“You have the right to get the hell out of my sight,” Matt cut in. “You two had your chance to solve this murder, instead, you caused a riot. Now beat it.” 

Clarke exited, and Finn stayed behind briefly. “At some point, you are gonna have to stop being an asshole,” Finn tried. 

“At some point you are gonna have to start being useful, now get out of here Spacewalker,” Matt retorted. 

As Finn stomped off, Bellamy could only smile, “You really don’t like that guy.” 

“Do you? He is an idiot,” Matt countered. “What the hell does Clarke see in him?”

“He has good Earth Skills, I’ll give him that. But he is jealous of our leadership positions. He doesn’t feel like we have done anything to earn them.” 

Matt scoffed, ”Leaders are born, not chosen. Now let's get back to the task at hand,” spotting Murphy coming in. “Murphy, go upstairs and stay there. Have you remembered what you did with your knife yet?” 

“Yeah. After Bellamy got back from his hunting trip, I mouthed off to him about his sister and he slugged me, I got upset and threw my knife into a tree, that's the last time I saw it,” Murphy answered. 

Matt looked at Bellamy and he nodded, confirming the story. 

“Okay, I believe you. For now. Now head upstairs, and let me know if anyone is up there,” Matt said. 

“Monty is still working on the radio,” Bellamy said.

“Can you two co-exist Murphy? Just don’t talk to him,” Matt sighed. 

Murphy nodded and headed up the ladder. 

“Okay Bellamy, start at the beginning. You went on a hunting expedition, who was with you?” 

Bellamy started his story, he had taken four others out to hunt, and was later joined by Charlotte, a little girl that had left camp because she couldn’t stand to hear Jasper’s screams. Then the yellow acid fog rolled in, and they had to flee into a cave. They all got separated, and Bellamy and Charlotte were trapped together. 

“Okay stop there,” Matt interjected. “This little girl, Charlotte, was it the same little girl that approached us yesterday as I was heading to your tent?” 

Bellamy nodded. 

“Alright, continue. You were trapped in the cave with Charlotte, what happened? What did you talk about?” Matt pressed.

“She had been having nightmares, she was having one in the cave, I woke her up and asked her what she was scared of. I asked her what she planned on doing about it. I told her...I told her to slay her demons while she was awake..and they wouldn’t be there when she was asleep...” Bellamy trailed off.

Matt grabbed him. “Stop that. It's okay Bellamy, you didn’t do anything wrong, you were trying to help a little girl, who shouldn’t even be down here, and if she twisted your words into something sinister, that's not on you. But we need to keep going. Finish your story. You left the cave, you found Adam, what happened?” Matt pressed. 

Bellamy gathered himself, “Charlotte found him, covered in burns, barely able to speak, she was screaming out. I got there, and he was begging me to kill him. I hesitated. Charlotte gave me the knife, and I sent them all back to camp. That's when Clarke arrived.”

“And did they go?” Matt pressed. 

“The others went for sure, Charlotte hesitated, and I told her again, and she walked away. But I’m not sure she went straight back to camp,” Bellamy admitted. 

“What happened next, with Clarke?” Matt was getting closer. 

“She took the knife from me, started humming to Adam, and stabbed him in the neck, deep enough to kill him, telling him he was okay. She kept humming until he was gone. She is a lot stronger than I gave her credit for,” Bellamy admitted. 

“You should have seen her in the skybox when she confronted her mother about the fighting pit,” Matt sighed. “Okay, so, we still need a little more information, I’d like to know exactly what Charlotte was having nightmares about. Do you know if she has talked with anyone about it?” Matt asked. 

“I would guess Clarke, you did point her at Clarke last night,” Bellamy tried. 

Matt barely remembered. But it was worth a try. He walked down the ramp, “Clarke! Where is Clarke?” he demanded. 

“I’m here,” she shouted back, emerging from a tent and heading towards him and up the ramp. 

“Finn thinks you are borderline tyrannical, I’m inclined to agree, now what have you got for me?” Clarke demanded. 

“Finn is an idiot, now back it down Clarke. Think about your father, and my mother. If you think a fair, unbiased investigation is ‘tyrannical’ then what the hell does that make Marcus Kane? I’m close, but I need to ask you some questions, and I need honest answers,” Matt said, calmly. “Have you had any interactions with a little girl named Charlotte?”

Clarke looked surprised, “What does Char-”

“Yes or No Clarke,” Matt interrupted. 

“Yes,” she replied. “She has been having nightmares about her parents being floated. Now will you-”

Matt held up his hand, cutting her off again. “Thank you Clarke. You have been very helpful. Now please, go up the ladder for a few minutes while I interview a few more people, then I will bring you and Murphy down to explain what happened.”

Clarke scowled, but she went up the ladder. Matt turned to Bellamy, “That's it, that's the motive. Charlotte went to sleep and saw her parents getting floated. She wanted revenge, she tried to get close to me so she could kill me because my father is Marcus Kane, she failed. She turned her attention to Wells, whose father is Chancellor Jaha. She succeeded,” he finished. 

Bellamy looked pale, he didn’t want to believe it, but the dots connected. “What do we do?” he whispered. 

“Go for a confession to start, after that..we will put it to the group. Go from there,” Matt shrugged. “Go get her would you?” 

Bellamy walked slowly down the ramp. “Charlotte! You okay? Come over here.” Matt looked on as the little girl emerged and walked slowly towards them, her head down. 

I can’t believe they sent this girl down here. What monsters. And that guy Finn thinks I am a tyrant? Give me a break. I’m gonna put that idea to rest in about 5 minutes, Matt sighed to himself. 

Bellamy walked Charlotte up the ramp, barely able to make eye contact with her. He wasn’t taking this very well, Matt couldn’t blame him, but this was a burden of leadership. 

“Hello Charlotte, my name is Matt Kane. Is there anything you want to say to me?” Matt started. 

Charlotte continued to look down and shook her head. 

“Charlotte? Is there something wrong? I asked you a question,” Matt continued. 

“No,” she said meekly. 

“Okay then, so, Wells Jaha was murdered last night, by someone in the camp, not a grounder, did you know that?” he asked. 

“Yes,” she replied. 

“How do you know that, Charlotte?” Matt calmly asked. 

“Because..because I’m the one that killed him,” she whispered. 

“I see. That’s a very serious crime Charlotte. Why did you do that? Was Wells hurting you?” Matt asked. 

“No. His father floated my parents,” she whispered. 

“So you killed him? Because of what someone else did to your family? Did that make you feel better?” Matt pressed. 

“No,” she admitted. 

“I remember last night, you asked if you could sleep next to me, did you plan on killing me first?” Matt asked. 

“Yes,” she whispered. 

“So how did you kill Wells?” he asked.

“I got close to him, he was sitting against a log, I came up behind him, and stabbed him in the neck, when he reached out, I got scared and swiped at his hand. After he died, I hummed to him. Then I ran away.” she whispered. 

“Did anyone help you kill Wells, Charlotte?” Matt asked.

“No. I got the knife from a tree, I didn’t mean for Murphy to be involved,” she admitted. 

“That was almost a really bad situation for Murphy. He could have been killed too. Did you want that to happen?” Matt pressed, perhaps unfairly. 

“No,” she whispered. 

“Okay Charlotte, thank you for telling me the truth,” Matt finished. 

“Are you going to float me now?” Charlotte asked. 

“No Charlotte, that's not how we are going to do this. First we have to tell the group the truth. Then we as a group will decide what to do. I’m going to need you to go up the ladder and wait for me to call you back down. But first I need to get everyone else down,” Matt said, walking to the ladder. 

Bellamy looked heartbroken, poor guy. “Hey! Upstairs! Everyone down!” Matt shouted. 

The hatch opened and Clarke raced down, followed by Murphy and Monty. They looked anxiously at Matt, but he held up his hand. “Charlotte head up the ladder please. Wait for me to call you down.” 

Charlotte headed up the ladder. 

“Monty go wait outside with the others,” Matt ordered, Monty left without a word. Matt sighed. “Clarke this is gonna suck for you, Murphy don’t make it worse by talking. Okay? Okay. It was Charlotte, she killed Wells. She confessed to it. Murphy had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Matt said. 

“Oh my God,” sobbed Clarke, as she fell to the ground. She looked back up at Matt, then Murphy with tears in her eyes.  .

Matt knelt down next to Clarke and she grabbed him and hugged him, burying her head into his shoulder. Murphy did as he was told and stayed quiet, and Bellamy had retreated to a corner, arms folded, head down. He gave her some time, and they stood up together. 

“What do we do?” Clarke asked. “How could she do this?”

“First,” Matt started, “You have to reconcile with Murphy. Do that now.” He retreated to Bellamy and put his hand on his shoulder. “It's not your fault man,” he whispered. Bellamy just nodded. 

Clarke faced Murphy, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for accusing you of murdering my best friend. I was wrong. I didn’t think it through,, I didn’t think the group would react like that. I wanted someone to blame, and all the information I had pointed to you. It was bad information. I hope you can forgive me,” Clarke finished, her voice cracking at the end.  .

Murphy gave it a minute and replied, “You know as far as apologies go Clarke, that was pretty good. But as far as forgiveness...”

Matt shot him a look, but didn’t intervene. 

Murphy continued, “Look, I was working on the south wall, you take my place, and we will be good,” he finished. 

Clarke nodded, “Okay. Thank you.” 

“And Clarke? I’m sorry about Wells, I didn’t like the guy, you were right about that, but now that he is dead..” Murphy shook his head. “It makes me feel worse.” 

Clarke nodded and looked at Matt. “What do we do now?” 

Matt sighed. “Now we tell the group and decide on a fair punishment. Nothing is off the table. Everyone outside, I’ll do the talking,” he ordered. 

They all started out and Matt grabbed Clarke, “How is that for a tyrant?” he whispered. 

“You are both wrong about each other, but right now, I have no complaints,” she shot back. 

“I’ll accept that,” Matt relented. 


	15. The Sentence

“Okay, bring it in! A conclusion has been reached!” Matt shouted. The group gathered at the base of the drop ship. Finn and Clarke held hands, Bellamy was still completely dejected. Octavia walked up to him and stood by him. 

“The young girl Charlotte has confessed to the murder of Wells Jaha!” Matt started. There were audible gasps and murmurs. 

“She did it because her parents were floated, and she put that on Wells. It wasn’t right, or fair. As I told you, I am not my father, and Wells was not his father. We didn’t float any of your families. And now that Wells is dead, ask yourselves, do you feel better? If so, then we are going to have some serious problems as a society!” Matt pressed. 

“Last night, Charlotte took John Murphy’s knife out of a tree that he had left there, and walked up behind Wells as he was resting next to a log, and stabbed him in the neck. He reached out to her, and she got scared, and sliced his hand, cutting his fingers off. She then sat next to him, and hummed to him as he laid there, bleeding out. She ran back to the camp after it was over, leaving the knife and fingers. Murphy had no involvement! No one helped Charlotte do this! People were trying to help her overcome the nightmares she was having, and she identified Wells as the solution. But he wasn’t the only one! Last night she tried to get close to me as well, but I turned her away, which is why I’m still standing here, and Wells isn’t!” Matt finished. 

“Now, we have to decide, as a society, what to do with Charlotte. What is a fair punishment for a 12 year old murderer? Everyone will get their own input, Bellamy and I will talk to each one of you, one at a time. Murphy and Clarke will go last, as they were the most affected. Their input will weigh a little more heavily than others. But in the end, Bellamy and I will make the final decision! Does anyone have any relevant questions?” 

“Yeah I have a question!” Finn shouted. “Who decided you and Bellamy get to make the final call?” he yelled, as Clarke tried to grab him.

“I did!” Matt shouted. “Does anyone else have any  relevant questions?” He wasn’t about to deal with any kind of challenge right now, certainly not by the Spacewalker. 

No one raised their hands or said anything, so Matt moved on. “Okay! We will call you in one at a time, starting with Monty. Everyone else, back to work! Oh Murphy, come up here a second. Go on in Monty, I’m right behind you,” Matt said, motioning to Monty. 

“Listen, I know you had Clarke take your shift on the south wall, but maybe consider giving her a break right now, she is taking this really hard. That doesn’t mean you have to go do it, other people can pick up the slack,” Matt whispered. 

Murphy looked down at Clarke, who was just hugging it out with Finn. “Yeah she is. Alright boss, I’ll let her off. Don’t worry about it.” 

“Cool. Now I’ve got a lot more to do, but you will get your say Murphy, at the end,” Matt finished, heading into the dropship. 

Monty and Bellamy were in there waiting for him, sitting in some chairs they had assembled. There was an empty chair for him. 

“Okay, first of all. You doing okay Bellamy? You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, I can handle it,” Matt asked. 

“No, I’m good. I need to do this. If we are going to lead together, I can’t pick and choose when it's convenient for me. Lets do this,” replied Bellamy. 

“Good man. Okay Monty, I called you in first not because I need you working on the radio, but because you seem to be a really bright kid. Clarke told me you are from Farm Station, and Engineering was recruiting you. You also seem to have a balanced sense of morals, and don’t appear to hate me outwardly, which is rare. What are your thoughts on our current dilemma? Speak freely, and don’t worry about us telling others what you said.” Matt finished. 

Monty started, “It's a lot to process yeah, but first, I need to know I can trust you two to make the right decision for the group, so how about you tell me about the blood you were covered in when we first came down here, and that sword you wear on your back? And where Bellamy got a gun from?” 

“That's a lot Monty, it's a huge story. And it's still ongoing. Are you sure you want to know?”Matt asked, looking at Bellamy. 

“Positive. And don’t worry about me telling others what you say here,” Monty replied. 

Matt sighed, looking at Bellamy, “What do you think?” 

Bellamy took a long look at Monty. “I think he makes a good point. And I think we can trust him. Tell him what went down on the Ark,” Bellamy said. 

So, Matt brought Monty into the fold, for the most part. He told him about his time in the skybox, fighting, being with Clarke, seeing his mom get floated for a thought crime, how he was recruited to kill Kane, how he accepted the offer, only to change his mind at the last second and kill his co-conspirators, effectively dealing a major blow to the would be rebellion. Bellamy confessed he shot Jaha one time, unsure of whether or not he was actually dead. And they stopped there. 

Monty let out a big breath of air. “Wow. Holy cow. Wow. Who else knows about this?”

“Just Clarke. She reacted the exact same way, she did object to me killing those guys though. Thanks for not doing that,” Matt replied softly. 

Monty looked up, “I have a problem with killing, but I understand your situation.” 

Matt was surprised. “Um, you do?” 

“Yes,” Monty replied. “When you are recruited to take part in a full scale rebellion, you either say yes, say no and probably die, or betray them. Those are really the only options. So, let's move on.”

“Wow. Monty, I officially like you. So, would you like to continue our conversation about Charlotte?” Matt asked. 

“No, there is something you aren’t telling me. What is it? Does it have to do with Harper?” Monty pressed. 

Matt waved him off, “Monty I’m not going there. What happened between Harper and I was personal. I have to keep quiet about it for now, maybe forever. If you want to help, befriend Harper, make her feel like part of the group. But don’t bring me up with her, or anything related to what you just heard. Nothing. If you aren’t good with that, take it as a warning instead of a suggestion. I need you to make your decision based on everything I told you that happened on the Ark, and forget about this last line of inquiry. I like you, but I’m not going to answer you. You are the first of 90 plus conversations I’m about to have, and I’m probably not going to share nearly as much with anyone else than I did with you,” Matt finished. 

“Wow. You can be an intense dude. But I guess I knew that when I first saw you covered in blood,” Monty finished. 

“Okay, I’m ready to move on. I trust the two of you will make the right decision, and I won’t tell anyone what I just heard. So, where should I start?” Monty took a deep breath and continued, “I have a huge problem with murder, and thats what this was, it was murder in the first degree. She planned it out, executed it, and ran away from it, letting someone else take the fall. But she is 12 years old. On the Ark, she was looking at six more years in the skybox. This whole situation is wrong. Why was she even sent down? I get we were expendable, but this girl had no chance of surviving on her own, she was completely dependent on the group. And she hurt the group, undeniably,” Monty paused.

Matt and Bellamy listened intently, if every conversation was going to be like this, it was going to be a long night. 

“What about imprisonment? Again,” Monty finished. 

“What do you think that looks like?” Matt asked. 

“We lock her up, upstairs for now, until we can find a more suitable place. No visitation. 1 hour of supervised work. No contact with anyone but a select few people that have been chosen to guard her, namely, you two,” Monty offered. 

Matt nodded his head, “That could work. Okay Monty, we will take that into consideration, can I count you as 1 vote for imprisonment?” 

“Yeah,” Monty replied. 

“Is there anything else you want to share?” Bellamy asked. 

“I hope you two know what you are doing, for all of our sakes,” Monty finished, standing up. 

“Me too,” Bellamy replied. 

“Send Jasper in would you? And Monty? We aren’t bringing Jasper into the fold, I’m trusting you to not tell him anything, and remember what I said about Harper. Keep working on the radio, we need to make contact soon,” Matt waved him out. 

They went through the motions with the rest of the group, the vast majority supported Monty’s imprisonment plan, while a few voted to float her. No one asked as many questions as Monty, they all seemed to be pretty afraid of Matt, he surmised. They also weren’t used to having a voice, that confidence would come with time. 

“What are the numbers looking like?” Matt asked. 

“By my count, we have 75 votes for imprisonment, ten for death by hanging, one by death by throat stabbing, yikes, two people declined to vote, leaving us with four people to go. Finn, Harper, Murphy, and Clarke.”

“Well that sounds like a minefield. Seems like you are two short?” Matt inquired. 

“You and me are the other two,” Bellamy reminded him. 

“Right. Okay, go get Harper. If you don’t mind, take the lead on this one,” Matt pointed at him. 

Bellamy walked in with Harper in front of him. Her confidence seemed to be returning, but Matt wasn’t ready to call her cute again. 

“Hey Harper,” Matt started. 

“Hi Matt. You look tired. I brought you some water,” she tried to smile. 

“Thanks,” Matt said, sheepishly. He took a look at the water, it looked okay. 

“Matt?” she prodded him. 

“Yeah?” He asked, looking up. 

“It's not poisoned, you idiot,” she got the smile out this time. 

Matt sighed. “Okay.” He drank the water and set down the cup. “Go Bellamy,” he motioned. 

“Harper,” Bellamy started. 

“Before you start, can I say something?” Harper cut in. 

“Sure, go ahead,” Bellamy replied. 

“It would have been really easy for you two to implicate me in this case. Especially after everything that has happened, I know I hurt the group. But you didn’t, and I wanted to say thank you,” she finished. 

“Harper..” Bellamy started. 

“I never even considered your involvement,” Matt cut in. “I think you made a terrible mistake, and I think it's eating away at you. I know you are looking to make things right, and I hope that opportunity comes for you soon Harper. Just don’t do anything rash, don’t leave the camp, wait for the right moment. But no, I don’t think you could have done something like this, especially a day after I pardoned you. So no, you were never a suspect,” Matt finished. 

“Thank you Matt,” she said sheepishly. 

Matt motioned to Bellamy. 

“Okay Harper, we weren’t avoiding you because we value your opinion less than anyone else's, Matt is just having a hard time moving on from you after you dumped him,” Bellamy started. 

“Is that what happened?” Matt demanded. 

“It seems that way to me,” Bellamy laughed, along with Harper. 

“I don’t think we need to revisit the specifics of our breakup, Bellamy, if you could stay on topic,” Matt waved him off. 

“No, please don’t!” laughed Harper. .

“Okay, on the topic of Wells’ murder. A sentence is going to be carried out, would you like to weigh in on what should happen to Charlotte?” Bellamy asked her. 

Harper looked down for a moment, “I would not. Whatever you decide is best for the group, I trust your judgment, I don’t feel like I have anything to add. I’m sorry about Wells, and I’m sorry about...our breakup, I’m just grateful to still be a part of the group, and I will work to be a contributing member. Thank you for including me though,” Harper finished. 

“Thank you Harper, please send Finn in as you leave,” Bellamy finished. 

Harper left. “You know she really is cute, right?” Bellamy nudged Matt. 

“I am fucking aware, thanks,” Matt retorted, rolling his eyes. “Take this next one too.” 

In walked Finn, the Spacewalker. 

“I know you’re calling me in last because you value my opinion the least,” Finn challenged. 

Matt nodded, “If you want to be taken seriously then you have to prove yourself. Toss us an idea for Charlotte’s imprisonment. Or execution, if you have a wild way of killing her.” 

Finn scoffed, “Okay how about this, I found an automobile with Clarke and Wells the other day. It's buried in the ground, but we could dig it out, get it back to the camp, and use that as a prison cell for Charlotte.” 

Matt looked at Bellamy. “Yeah, that could work. Okay Finn, after we finish with Murphy and Clarke, show us where it is, and we will see how salvageable it is. I’m guessing your vote is for imprisonment then, not execution?” 

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I know it's time for me to leave and send Murphy in,” Finn finished, stomping off. 

“That was easier than I thought, the guy is still a loser though,” Matt stated. 

Bellamy just laughed. “He is good for Clarke at least.” 

“That's about it so far. You know he wants to be part of our leadership team? That's never gonna happen,” Matt laughed. 

Murphy walked in, pointing to the door, “Spacewalker seems upset,” he observed. 

“Yeah, he thinks he is strong enough, and smart enough, to be a part of the leadership team. He showed today, once again, he isn’t up for it, as he stood next to Clarke, instead of against her, when she was accusing you of murder. Remember who stepped between you two and shut that mob down,” Matt responded. 

“Don’t worry, I will never forget that moment,” Murphy replied. “What can I do for you, Leaders?”

“You were more affected by Charlotte’s actions than anyone not named Wells or Clarke, so we are weighing your vote a little more heavily, though I doubt you can sway it at this point. It's a pretty clear choice at the moment. But, we want to hear your honest opinion. And we will answer whatever questions you might have about this topic,” Matt said. 

“You say that as if you won’t answer specific questions about other topics.” Murphy observed. 

“That's where we are at right now, yes,” Bellamy chimed in. 

“Okay. Well, based on the chatter I have heard outside, I’m guessing the choices are imprisonment or execution?” Murphy asked. 

“You aren’t limited to those two options, if you have a different idea, let's hear it,” replied Matt. 

“I actually don’t. Other than that, I think she should spend a lot of time on work detail. It's not fair we will all be working to protect our camp while she sits around, safe,” Murphy finished. 

“That's a valid point Murphy, we will definitely take that into consideration,” Bellamy replied. “Anything else?” 

“Nope, that's it for me, let me guess, send Clarke in?” Murphy motioned to the door. 

Bellamy nodded. 

“Last one, finally. I hope she makes it quick,” lamented Matt. 

“Are we set on imprisonment?” Bellamy asked. 

“Pretty much, I know Clarke, she isn’t gonna push for death,” Matt responded. 

Clarke walked in. “Hey guys, I just wanted to say..thank you for taking this on. Thank you for shutting me down out there. You were right, I was emotional. I never meant to cause that amount of chaos,” she started. 

“Mob justice is dangerous Clarke, but no justice is even worse. I promised you I would get justice for Wells. For you,” Matt countered. 

Clarke nodded. “And you did. You did it right. You are a great leader Matt, even if I think you are taking too much on by yourself.” 

“Does Bellamy not count?” Matt asked, pointing his way. 

“Bellamy is a good vocalist, someone to rally behind, but he was out there the whole time, he didn’t step between Murphy and me, you did, and you were only there for a few moments. You have true courage Matt, Bellamy is still finding his. I’m confident he will, in time,” Clarke finished. 

“You have courage too Clarke, you led an expedition to Mt. Weather, and to find Jasper. Even if only one of those succeeded, it took guts to go out there like that. On top of that, you brought me down from my high after killing Jason. You are part of our leadership group, we don’t need you at the moment, but we will, very soon I think. I know you will be ready,” Matt offered. 

“Do you have anything you would like to say in regards to Charlotte?” Bellamy asked. 

“Float her,” Clarke said flatly. 

Both Bellamy and Matt looked at her for a moment, and as they started to say something, she jumped in. 

“Kidding! Wells said I couldn’t be fun. That was a joke. I’m proving him wrong,” Clarke smiled. “I support Finn’s imprisonment idea. Let's go get the automobile out of the ground,” she finished. 

“Okay,” Matt sighed. “And as far as your sense of humor, I think you need to work on it Clarke.”

They headed for the exit, gathering outside. “Okay! Bring it in guys! You are doing great work on the wall by the way!” Matt shouted. The group gathered again.

“The overwhelming consensus is, we imprison Charlotte. Finn has said he found a buried automobile not far from here, and we are going to dig it up and use that as a cell, as long as it's viable. I see the sun is about to set, so we will start on that first thing tomorrow! We will need a lot of guys for that, so be prepared to move out if you fit that description. NO ONE LEAVES THE CAMP UNTIL MORNING!! That is all!” Matt shouted, breaking them up. 

Matt turned to Bellamy, “It's your turn to get some sleep, I’ll take care of security. You look exhausted. We will tell Charlotte her sentence tomorrow, after you get some rest. ” 

Bellamy shook his head, “Clarke was right. I should have done more, I should have done more for Adam, for Charlotte, for you, I have to be better.” 

Matt grabbed Bellamy’s shoulder. “I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it, Adam and Charlotte were not your fault. Now go to the buffet, grab your dates and head to bed. You have a ton of potential Bellamy, and you are slowly unlocking it. I’ve got your back. Now go on,” Matt shoved him away. 

Are we thriving yet? 


	16. Enter Raven

Day 4

Matt sat outside Bellamy’s tent next to the fire, gazing into it. It was still an interesting feeling for him, he had never seen an actual fire before coming down to Earth, which seemed absurd, but life on the Ark didn’t involve a lot of fires. The closest he had gotten was PIke showing him how to start one. He still had a mountain of problems to deal with, and he was trying to think of solutions. He had essentially allowed Monty to handle the radio problem, and Monty promised a make or break moment would happen today. But so many more remained, like basic bathing. He was thinking about armed escorts to the nearest waterhole, but that was still dangerous. Hygiene was fast becoming an issue, and it was only going to get worse. 

He was also reflecting on his own personal problems. He felt as if he was settling into his role as a leader, and he was relieved that the camp was following him. He had always been worried about convincing people to follow his lead, but he leaned on his mother’s teachings. Communication and honesty, make people feel as if they are important, and inspire them to perform at a higher level. It was working even better than he imagined. 

But there was still the lingering guilt from the first night. He had begun to feel more and more shame from his behavior that day. From pushing Clarke away to that entire ordeal with Harper. He wanted to really apologize to Harper, but he didn’t know how. He needed to figure out a way just the two of them could be alone with no possibility of being interrupted. 

It was still a few hours until sunrise, and Octavia approached him and sat down, letting out a deep sigh. 

“Sure, sit down and join me,” Matt joked. 

Octavia smiled, “Sorry, I wasn’t taught manners too much, on account of not being allowed to leave my room, since I wasn’t even supposed to exist.” 

“Apology accepted,” Matt smiled back. 

“You know it's sad, two out of the three people working the hardest to keep us alive are afraid to sleep without a guard outside their tent. What does that say about us?” she asked. 

“It says you all suck,” Matt stated. “What makes you think I’m afraid to sleep without a guard?” 

Octavia shot him a look, “My brother refused to leave that exact spot you are sitting in for six hours while you slept. It wasn’t until Miller convinced him he could be trusted that he finally got some sleep himself. Speaking of that, did you sleep at all last night?”

“Nope,” Matt admitted. 

“Use my tent while you can. Unless you think I am a threat to my brother. You know, us being the only two siblings on the entire Ark,” Octavia insisted. 

Matt wasn’t about to waste that opportunity, even if it was only for a short time. He stood and walked towards her tent. 

“You’re welcome!” Octavia shouted after him. 

He turned and looked back, “Sorry, I wasn’t taught manners too much, on account the entire class hated me and didn’t want me there,” Matt laughed. They had a lot in common, but Matt promised Bellamy he would stay away. He was honoring that for the time being, since she seemed to be with a different guy every time he saw her. Maybe the Blakes had this whole relationship thing figured out. 

Matt entered Octavia’s empty tent and laid down, falling asleep almost immediately. About two hours had passed when he heard a thunderous noise outside, and the kids were clamoring about, shouting for Bellamy and Matt to get out there. Quickly hopping up, sword in hand, and exiting the tent, he looked up at what they were all pointing at to see a parachute descending from the sky. It looked to be some kind of escape pod.

Bellamy was out of his tent and saw it as well. The pod landed a few miles to the southwest. It was time for Matt to finally venture out into the woods. There could be a radio on board, at the very least. The sun was barely peeking up, a perfect opportunity to get over there and back with whatever supplies, and whatever person, was inside. Their pardons could be waiting as well. 

“Bellamy, you and me, let's move! The rest of you stay here, start on your assignments! We will be back with whatever is on board as soon as we can! No one leaves the camp! Murphy! You are in charge until we get back! Keep them working! No one goes upstairs to see Charlotte! And make sure no one leaves! We have already lost seven!” Matt shouted. 

Where is Clarke? Probably sleeping with the Spacewalker, he sighed to himself.

“Right!” Bellamy shouted back. 

“I’m coming too!” Octavia shouted. 

“No!” Matt and Bellamy said jointly. “Listen Octavia, we have no idea where we are going, how far it is, how safe it is, and we have to make it back with probably a person that is going to be in shock about being on the ground, oblivious to the danger. And while you might not be in shock, you don’t exactly take the grounder threat seriously,” Matt pressed. 

Octavia shot him a look, but she actually backed down, figuring she couldn’t fight both of them. Matt and Bellamy started out in the direction of the pod. They had a lot to talk about, which was the real reason he didn’t want Octavia to come, not that he was wrong about the other stuff. 

“Stay alert while I run through some things,” Matt started, sword in hand. “First of all, if we play our cards right, our pardons are on that pod. We can make contact with the Ark, see what the hell is actually going on with the leadership, and leverage our knowledge of the rebellion. Assuming the rebellion failed that is. We should also plan for the possibility that you killed the Chancellor, and the rest of the coup succeeded despite my attempted sabotage, and we have a completely new leadership team to deal with. Just as stupid, but even less friendly.” 

“What exactly is your plan for that situation?” Bellamy asked. 

“I’m working on it, Shumway was just a patsy, through and through. The other guy didn’t seem very bright either, they were both likely very expendable, on top of that, I gave them the parameters on how to stage a successful coup, chiefly wipe out the current leadership team with a bomb, not that that was ever my goal, but it wouldn’t be so bad. Whoever is in charge, they definitely don’t know that  I  know the second guy spilled the whole leadership structure to me before I chopped his head off, and that could be useful, particularly if the coup attempt failed and the old leadership team is still in place. 

“If that's the case, once we make contact, it's likely the would-be assassins will try again. Isn’t it almost Unity Day? Seems like the perfect place to set off the bomb you suggested,” Bellamy offered. 

“Exactly Bellamy, now you are using your head,” Matt responded. “In all likelihood, Unity Day is going to be a big day. But first we need to see what we are dealing with. Also, and I can almost guarantee this is the case, they likely put all of those deaths on you. I was supposed to be here, you weren’t. You were going to be the fall guy, and I was just going to be an afterthought. So if the person in the pod blames you for all that happened, just take it. I’ll be there to back you up. Remember, we are in control of the entire situation,” Matt finished. 

“Wait!” Bellamy whispered. “Get down.” 

They both squatted down, on high alert, and waited. Nothing. 

“Thought I heard something behind us,” Bellamy whispered. 

“Can’t be too careful. Let's continue on,” Matt replied. 

“One last thing. In the event the Chancellor survived my shot, he is going to be there on the radio, and he is going to ask about Wells,” Bellamy offered. 

Matt stopped and sighed. He had not even thought about that. 

“Yeah. That's going to suck,” Matt sighed. 

Bellamy put his hand on his shoulder, “I’ve got your back. We will get through that if we need to.” 

“Thanks, let’s go,” Matt replied. 

They hiked for about 30 minutes, and came up on the pod. Opening the hatch, the pilot was unconscious, bleeding from the head. It should have been a priority, but then Matt and Bellamy heard the radio, and Abby’s voice. 

“Pod one Pod one, this is Ark Station Medical, if you are receiving please respond! Pod one Pod one, this is Ark Station Medical, if you are receiving please respond!” 

“That's Abby Griffin, Clarke’s mom,” Matt said, in shock. “Why is Medical transmitting an automatic hail?” 

“Better respond fast, the whole grounder army saw the pod,” Bellamy urged. 

“Right, here goes nothing,” Matt said, a little nervous as he picked up the transmitter. 

“This is Camp Exodus, calling Ark Station! Are you receiving me? I say again, this is Camp Exodus calling Ark Station! Come in Ark Station!”  Matt shouted

It didn’t take long. 

“Oh my God! Um, this is Ark Station Medical! Yes, we are receiving you! Who is this??”  a male voice shouted. 

“I'm glad I’m not the only one nervous about this conversation,” chuckled Matt. 

“This is Matt Kane, transmitting from the ground, who am I speaking with?” 

“Um, this is Dr. Eric Jackson, transmitting from Ark Station Medical! I can’t believe I am talking to someone on Planet Earth! I made first contact!”

“Wow,” Bellamy just shook his head. 

“Congratulations Dr. Jackson, you are the first person in 97 years to talk to someone on Earth from Outer Space, now could you please find me someone in charge up there? Preferably a Council Member?”  Matt asked, a lot more calmly. 

He didn’t have to wait, Earth Monitoring cut into the feed. 

“This is a restricted channel, who is this? Please identify yourself.”  a new voice sounded. 

Matt scoffed at the arrogance of these people. 

“I don’t think anyone down here on Planet Earth cares about the fact that this is a ‘restricted channel,’ but I will say again, this is Matt Kane, transmitting from the ground, now get me someone in charge to talk to!”  Matt countered. 

“Son? Is that you?”  Marcus Kane asked. 

Matt scowled. The absolute last person he wanted to talk to. He wasn’t setting his emotions aside for even this. 

“I have nothing to say to you Kane, now put someone important on the line,”  Matt growled. 

“Matt! This is Abby, is Clarke with you? How is Raven?” 

“Matt! This is the Chancellor, is my son with you?” 

“You were right, Jaha lives. This is gonna suck. Who is Raven though? Oh shit, she must mean the pilot! Get her out of there!” Matt exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about this task at hand. 

Bellamy pulled her out of the pod, and laid her on the ground, taking her helmet off, as she gasped for air. 

“Hi,” she said. “I made it?” 

At that exact moment, Clarke and Finn came rushing up. 

“Oh my God!” Clarke exclaimed.

“FINN!” Raven shouted, standing up while ditching her suit, she actually tripped and fell, almost a face-plant, because she didn’t get the legs off. Crawling out of the suit, she stood up again and just ran straight to Finn, giving him a deep kiss. 

Matt, Clarke, and Bellamy just kind of stared at the two of them, all for different, yet the same reason. 

This is insane. She is going to fit in perfectly. As usual, I give up. Poor Clarke though. I bet they JUST had sex for the first time, Matt mused.

The radio came to life, it must have felt like an eternity for the Ark, but it had just been a few seconds. 

“Matt? Are you there? How is Raven? How are Wells and Clarke?”  Abby asked. 

“You made contact with the Ark! Oh my God!” Clarke exclaimed. 

“Seems to be a popular phrase in the last five minutes,” Bellamy mused. 

“Do you want to talk to your Mom, Clarke? I have to tell Jaha about Wells first,” Matt offered. 

Clarke stopped in her tracks. “Yes, let's do that together.” 

“Alright,” Matt said. 

“You’ve got this,” Bellamy reassured him. 

“Abby? I’m here. Clarke is here too, and she will talk to you in just a moment, but I have some things to tell the Chancellor first. Chancellor Jaha? Can you hear me?”  Matt started. 

Clarke walked over and put her hands on Matt’s shoulders. Bellamy and Finn looked on, with Raven having a look of concern. 

“Whats going on?” Raven whispered to Finn. 

“Just wait.” Finn whispered back. 

“Yes Matt, I hear you. How is Wells?”  Jaha responded. 

Matt took a breath. 

“Chancellor Jaha, it is with great regret that I must inform you that your son Wells was killed outside the wall two nights ago. We buried him, and he is now resting in peace. I am sorry for your loss.” 

There was a long, long silence.

“Thank you, Matt, for telling me that. I know it must have been difficult for you. May I ask, how did my son die?”  Jaha responded. 

“Chancellor, I will answer all of your questions, once we are safely back to Camp Exodus. Which leads me to my other huge piece of news. In case you haven’t figured it out, Yes, the Earth is survivable. But no, we are not the only ones here. There are survivors here, we don’t know how many, but we do know they are hostile to us. We have lost seven kids since landing, some to the planet, others to grounders. Our current count is now 95, including Raven. I’m going to give Clarke a brief moment to talk to her Mom, then we are going to have to sign off until we are safely back to camp. Abby? Here is Clarke.” 

Matt handed the transmitter to Clarke. 

“Mom?”  Clarke started, as Matt walked over to Raven and Finn. Raven seemed to have gotten over the fact that she was on the ground in about two seconds and was all over Finn. 

What do all these girls see in this guy, I will never understand, Matt sighed. 

“Oh my God Clarke, you are alive! I’m so relieved! How are you holding up?”  Abby asked, frantically. 

Leaving Clarke to talk to her mom, Matt and Bellamy walked over to introduce themselves to Raven.

“So, your Raven. I’m Matt Kane. That’s Bellamy Blake. You really came down here in a 100 year old escape pod? How was that?” Matt laughed. 

“It was fine,” Raven deadpanned, looking at Bellamy. “So this is the famous Bellamy Blake, everyone is looking for you. Almost killed Jaha and brutally murdered two other people.” 

“Wait what? You shot the Chancellor? And killed two others? Does Clarke know about this? Do you know about this?” Finn demanded of Matt. 

“Yep,” Matt shrugged. “I never get tired of how clueless you always are, Spacewalker.”

“Is there a problem here?” Raven asked, sensing the tension.

“Spacewalker is resentful that he isn’t part of the leadership team down here, and nobody cares. Right Bellamy?” Matt laughed.

Bellamy smiled, looking at Raven,. “And who are you supposed to be?” he asked.. 

“Raven Reyes, Mecha Station,” she glared at them. 

“Well Raven Reyes, Mecha Station, I don’t really care about how famous I am, because I am standing on Earth, and they aren’t,” Bellamy laughed. 

“Listen Raven, I know you are completely enamored with Finn, but if you were listening in, I wasn’t kidding when I said we aren’t alone out here. We are surrounded by an army of hostile grounders, and they all saw this pod land. So please, get Clarke off the radio, get it out of the pod, whatever else you think we can use, and let's get back to Camp Exodus. On our way, you can fill us in on the leadership situation on the Ark,” Matt cut in. 

“Uh sure. Hostile grounders?” Raven stammered. 

“Finn? Help her,”Matt ordered. 

Finn and Raven went to the pod as Clarke was signing off with her Mom, and they grabbed the radio, a couple of other parts, what looked to be a bad pressure regulator, and Raven’s spacesuit, and they formed up and set off towards Camp Exodus, Bellamy leading the way, with Clarke and Matt listening to Raven tell them about the murder case, the attempted assassination, and the fallout. 

“So let me get this straight,” Matt started, as they approached the camp, “Marcus Kane is still on the Council, despite me turning over rock solid evidence of him physically abusing me in the skybox, and Abby Griffin is in a lot of trouble. They are also planning a population reduction in the coming hours? Well, I hope they postponed that at least. Those fucking idiots.” 

Matt was pretty furious at the news that Kane was still on the Council, but he wasn’t sure who to direct his ire towards, Abby or Jaha. They arrived at the camp, and saw there was a new sign next to the old one. 

“Camp Exodus. Welcome to the Insanity.’ Nice. This place looks..rough. And I’m from Mecha Station,” Raven observed.  . 

“Yeah, welcome to your new home, I’ll introduce you. We have no running water, eight tents, 85 sleeping bags, no winter clothing, barely enough food, and 95 people, five of which are intelligent, including you Raven,” Matt laughed. “And not including the Spacewalker.”

“Holy shit,” Raven sighed. 

Matt passed through the gate. “Okay, we are back! Bring it in guys!” he shouted. 

The group gathered in front of them. 

“This is Raven Reyes, from Mecha Station! She came down here from the Ark in a 100 year old space pod, which certifies her a stark, raving lunatic! A perfect fit for our family! She was brave enough to bring us a radio, and we have successfully made contact with the Ark! We are going to set up a communication center inside the dropship, and arrange for all of you to talk to your families very soon! But first I need to go over a lot of details about our situation with them! So wait a little longer, and keep up the good work!” Matt shouted. 

Raven waved at the crowd, not really wanting any more attention, she too likely only had one thing on her mind. Matt walked over to Clarke and pulled her aside, as Bellamy headed out to find Octavia, who was nowhere in sight. 

“Hey, I’m sorry about Finn. I know you see something in that guy, so that must have sucked seeing Raven jump on him. Did he even mention the fact he was spoken for before you two slept together?” Matt inquired. 

“No...” Clarke trailed off. 

“Well, like I said I’m sorry, but I’m not going anywhere near that situation. If you want me to stick a pinky toe in, you can hang out with me tonight,” Matt responded. 

“Thanks Matt, let's talk about something else okay? I know you don’t feel safe sleeping in the camp. But Finn did find a place where you could sleep. I can show it to you tonight,” she whispered softly. 

“That would be a welcome relief, Clarke. But first, I have  a lot to talk to the Ark about,” Matt finished. 

Bellamy came sprinting up to them, short of breath. 

“Have you seen Octavia? She wasn’t with the group just now, and I can’t find her anywhere!” he gasped. 

“I was wondering about that too,” Matt admitted. “MURPHY! Get over here!” 

Murphy came running up, “Sup bosses?” 

“Murphy, where is Octavia?” Bellamy demanded. 

Murphy looked surprised. “Uhh..” throwing up his hands. 

Matt grabbed Murphy. “Murphy! I said no one leaves the camp!” he hissed. 

“I’m sorry man, we were working on the wall, I made sure no one went up to see Charlotte, I guess she slipped away,” Murphy exclaimed. 

“Slipped away where??” Bellamy asked, desperation in his voice. “We have to go find her, right now!” 

“You’re right man. We have plenty of daytime left, grab Miller, Finn for his alleged tracking skills, whomever else you trust, and lets move,” Matt urged. “Clarke, you and Raven set up the radio here, talk to the Ark, fill them in with everything you can. Say nothing about Bellamy and I. That's on me. Okay?” 

Clarke nodded, “Find Octavia Matt. Bring her home.” 

Bellamy ran up with Miller, two other kids, weapons in hand, but no Spacewalker. 

“Spacewalker chicken out again?” Matt scoffed. 

“Finn! Get out here!” Bellamy yelled, impatiently, bringing Finn out of his tent. Raven could wait. 

“Lets backtrack to the pod, I’m guessing she defied us and tried to catch up. That’s our only lead, so lets hope we can pick up her trail,” Matt finished, waving them out.

He had a bad feeling about this one.


	17. Rescuing Octavia

The rescue mission was heading towards the pod, Bellamy was extremely stressed, having a hard time focusing. They couldn’t shout for Octavia, because that would give their position away. At the same time, it could have helped because she might have been lost. But no one felt that she was lost. And given the noise they were making, Matt wasn’t confident that the grounders didn’t know where they were at all times. 

A lot had changed in four days, had Octavia gone missing on Exodus Day, Matt would have never volunteered to go look for her. That time it had been Jasper, and he hadn’t moved at all. He remembered how Octavia had come back injured and all those kids were hovering over her. Some kind of giant snake monster, they had said. He knew it wasn’t an animal that had snatched her this time.

“Look, I see some blood down there!” Miller shouted, pointing at some bushes down a small drop off. 

“Rope,” Bellamy demanded. He repelled down, followed by Matt and Finn. 

There was a patch of clothing, and some blood on the ground, she had likely hit her head. 

Bellamy looked at the clothing. “Its hers!” he exclaimed. Matt waved the rest of the group down. 

“There are some tracks here, too big for Octavia, sinking deep into the ground, going in that direction!” Finn observed. 

“He was carrying her,” Matt finished. 

They followed the tracks deeper into the woods, coming onto a barrier of sorts. A spooky one. Skulls, bones, an X. 

“Pretty sure that's universal for Keep out,” Finn whispered. 

“We are out,” the two kids said. Matt didn’t even know their names, he waved them back. 

“Go back if you want to, my sister, my responsibility,” Bellamy stated. 

“Go on back to camp, stay together,” Matt whispered to them. “That goes for us too, stay close.”

It was down to Matt, Bellamy, Miller, and Finn. They started in, tightly bunched, Matt and Bellamy leading the way. 

“Hey, remember my breakup with Harper?” Matt whispered to Bellamy. 

“Not the kind of thing one forgets,” Bellamy whispered back. 

“Right. I kind of..got too high on the adrenaline. If we have to fight, which I’m confident we will have to, I need your help staying focused on the mission, okay?” Matt urged. 

“Focusing on Octavia is pretty much my entire life, so I’ve got this,” Bellamy responded.

They kept going on. 

“I see someone over there!” Miller exclaimed. 

“Shh, get down get down,” Matt snapped, looking. He did see a grounder, freakishly dressed, staring at them. Matt drew his sword from its sheath. 

“Okay listen, huddle up for a second. Yeah, we are surrounded, but you gotta stay calm. Bellamy and I will keep our eyes forward, Miller you look left, Finn right. If you see someone, say ‘Contact.’ Watch out for spears and arrows, say ‘down’ as fast as you can if you see one and everyone hit the deck. Okay, lets move out, slow and steady,” Matt whispered. 

They started in again, the tension was incredibly high. It didn’t take long. 

“Contact right.”

“Contact left.” 

“Contact 12 o’clock.” 

Matt spotted them all, the ones on the right and left were running parallels, probably to scare them. But the one in front, he charged them. 

“Here he comes, I’ve got him, stay down,” Matt said. 

Matt allowed the grounder to close most of the distance, and when he was within 10 feet, Matt charged himself. The grounder yelled and raised his sword, Matt did a slide right underneath the swing and came up behind him, running his own sword through the grounder’s back, pushing him down onto his knees and beheading him in one quick motion. Just like that it was over, and Matt quickly hit the deck and surveyed the area. 

“Anything?” he whispered to the group. They were frozen in fear. “You see anything?” Matt pressed. 

“All clear for now,” Bellamy whispered. 

“Bellamy grab that guy’s sword, and let's move out. There will be more of them,” Matt said, turning his back on the dead grounder, and pushing forward, slowly. 

The group pushed forward. No one made a sound. 

“Contact right.” 

“Contact left, spear incoming!!” 

They hit the deck, and the spear struck a tree above them. The throw was too high regardless, but the velocity was worrisome for them all. 

“Check right, check right! Whats going on?” Matt urged. Bellamy was to his right, between him and the grounder, and Matt couldn’t see anything. Bellamy quickly hopped up, grabbed the spear and hurled it at the incoming grounder, striking him in the chest, knocking him down. He stood up a little too long, and Matt pulled him down. 

“Nice work. You okay?” he asked Bellamy.

“Yea, that was my first kill,” Bellamy whispered. 

“You will catch up to me eventually, lets move, quietly. Finn, Miller, you guys are going to have to start watching behind us as well,” Matt whispered. “Now that they know we are hostile, its probably going to get worse. Stay together, and call out the contacts.”

Suddenly, a grounder rushed forward out of the trees ahead of them, coming straight at Matt. 

“Contact 12 o’clock, he is mine!” Matt shouted as the grounder attacked with his sword, with another appearing behind him. Deflecting the sword attack, Matt used the grounder’s momentum to sling him back into the group as he rushed to meet the next one. 

“Miller kill this guy!” Matt grunted, as he blocked the next grounder’s sword. Another spear struck the tree next to them, but Matt just didn’t have time. He deflected the grounder’s second sword attack and feinted with his own attack, and when the grounder flinched Matt hit him with his spinning roundhouse kick. The grounder went down immediately, and Matt killed him by plunging his sword into his back with two hands. 

Looking up, he saw Miller and Bellamy struggling with the original grounder, but he didn’t have time as yet another grounder emerged from the forest, sword in hand. He looked at the group first and that gave Matt just enough time to hit him in the jaw with his sidekick. 

Matt killed that grounder with a sword plunged through the heart, and looked up again to see Miller kill his grounder with his hatchet. 

“Pick up their swords,” Matt whispered. He took his dead grounder’s sword, then the sheath off his waist. Moving to the other dead grounder, he did the same. He slung one of the sheathed weapons over his back, and tossed the other to Miller. 

“Regroup, everybody okay?” Matt pressed. Finn looked like he had taken a punch to the face, but everyone was alive. 

“How many of these guys are there?” Finn whispered. 

“I don’t know. Miller, give Finn that hatchet. Bellamy, take that spear out of the tree. Form up, keep your eyes peeled and listen,” Matt ordered. “They are adept with their swords, have a lot of upper body strength, but they are weak to kicks and low attacks. So far at least. Stay low and let them come to you.” 

The group was little more confident now, except Finn, who looked like he wanted no part of the hatchet. They came to an enclosure built into the ground. 

“Okay, hold up. We got something here. Let’s check it out as a group. Finn, keep calling out everything you see, we will do the killing. Okay? Everybody good?” Matt whispered. 

I don’t like this guy, but pacifism isn’t something I will criticize. Nobody signed up for this. Nobody was told they were getting sent to the ground to fight a war, Matt sighed to himself.

“ I think we should leave a lookout outside,” Bellamy suggested. 

“No,” Matt replied emphatically. We stay together, a lookout would be a sitting duck for the spearmen. Our only strength is our numbers.” 

Bellamy relented and they moved into the enclosure, heading underground. They heard some kind of struggle ahead of them, and Bellamy pushed forward through a door. A few moments went by and a voice rang out. 

“Bellamy!” Octavia cried. 

They followed through the door and Bellamy was hugging Octavia, who was chained to a wall. 

“Cut her loose Finn! Miller, watch the door!” whispered Matt. 

Finn rushed to the chain and started to struggle with it. “We need a key!” he exclaimed. He checked the grounder, and came up with a key. “I got it!” 

Matt looked towards the door and at that moment, he spotted the grounder starting to move. 

“Watch out!” Matt warned, too late. 

The grounder stabbed Finn in the abdomen and went after Bellamy. Octavia screamed for him to stop, a futile effort. Matt hit him with a sidekick to the head and the grounder dropped again. He checked on Finn. 

“Oh thats bad, we gotta get him back to Clarke and Abby, he doesn’t have a lot of time. Bellamy can you carry him?” Finn had already lost consciousness.

Bellamy picked up Finn in his arms, and the group moved back above ground and into the forest. They didn’t have a lot of time, but they were still presumably surrounded by bloodthirsty grounders. Matt grabbed Octavia and took the grounder sword off his back. 

“Okay listen, Octavia. This is a real sword, we had to kill five grounders to get to you, and we are going out the exact same way we came in. We stay together, no running off, no being a hero. Octavia! I’m serious, please, don’t break away from the group. Watch our right side. Call it out if you see anything. Miller, watch our backs. I’ll take point and watch left. Bellamy you stay in the middle. Everybody okay? Octavia! Are you good?” Matt pressed. 

“Yeah, I hear you. We gotta go right?” Octavia urged. 

Matt grabbed her, “Hey! Finn is dying! I am serious, I need you to help us get him home, I can’t babysit you, this is real! Don’t break away from the group!” Matt insisted. 

Octavia pulled away from him, “I said I got this, lets go.”

Matt sighed and waved them forward, retracing their steps. He stayed very close to Octavia, not trusting her in the slightest. 

“Contact 6 o'clock. Not moving, just watching us,” Miller whispered. 

“He is distracting you, keep your eyes open for anyone else,” Matt observed. 

They kept moving forward, as the grounder continued to watch. They were coming up on the last set of bodies they left. Passing by them without incident, Octavia looking at them intently. 

Matt spotted movement on the left, fairly close. 

“Contact left, coming in, wait for him to get to us.” Matt whispered, sword in hand. 

The grounder came in, saw Matt, and ran away. Clearly a trap. 

“He is running, I got him!” Octavia shouted, evading Matt’s outstretched arm as he tried to grab her and chasing after the fleeing grounder. 

“Octavia, STOP!” the three of them shouted at her. Matt chased after her and tackled her, as she fell, her sword clipped a wire she hadn’t even seen, and a booby trap of spikes came rushing past and into the tree beside them, missing Octavia by an eyelash. 

“ UNBELIEVABLE!  I told you not to break from the group you idiot! That has been their strategy all along, this forest is littered with traps, and they have tried to draw us to them! You are the dumbest person!” Matt exclaimed. He pulled her up and dragged her back to the group, Bellamy and Miller’s eyes were wide from the shock of that trap. 

Matt sighed. “Everybody good? Bellamy, as soon as we get back to camp, we are hanging Octavia from the tree. She can keep her clothes though.” 

“Copy that,” Bellamy deadpanned, glaring at Octavia. 

“Move out,” Matt whispered. 

The group passed the body that Matt had decapitated, with Octavia giving it a long stare, and finally the warning signs, with her also eyeing those. 

“Just because we are out of there, doesn’t make us safe. Keep your eyes open,” Bellamy remarked. 

They finally came within eyesight of the camp, and Harper spotted them. 

“Hey! They are back, open the gate! It looks like Finn is hurt, get Clarke!” 

The gate opened and Clarke was waiting for them with Raven, and upon seeing Finn their faces went pale. 

“Oh my God! Finn!” Clarke exclaimed, rushing forward, checking his pulse. 

“He is alive, but his pulse is weak. Get him to the dropship, Raven! Get my mom on the radio! We have to hurry!” Clarke shouted. She was in tears. 

“Clarke, you got this, I’ll be here if you need anything, now go,” Matt encouraged her. 

Clarke checked on Octavia, who waved her off, and ran towards the dropship. Matt looked at Octavia and sighed. 

“I’m not gonna ask what you were doing out there, or why you broke formation when I told you not to, I’m just going to tell you this and be done with it: Octavia, your eagerness to do the exact opposite of what everyone needs from you is hurting the group. You are not helping any of us right now, and you have to turn that around. Fast. Because we need everyone. It's clear now the grounders mean us harm, and we need you on our side. Good luck with your brother, he is going to be a lot less diplomatic. And don’t blame me if you are hanging from a tree in a few minutes,” Matt finished, walking away from her. 

“Miller! Over here!” Matt yelled, approaching him. Miller was checking out his new sword and looked up. 

“Whats up?” he asked Matt. 

“You proved yourself out there, good work. You have been promoted, I trust you now,” Matt finished. 

“Thanks man,” Miller replied. 

Matt took a breath and tried to take stock of what was going on in the camp. He noticed the wind was picking up and saw huge storm clouds on the horizon. He saw Bellamy and Octavia were having it out, and it ended with them going separate ways. 

At least you aren’t in the tree girl, Matt mused. 

“Okay! There is a storm blowing in,. Let's start getting everyone inside, along with whatever supplies! Make sure to leave containers out to catch the water!” Matt shouted, heading for the dropship to check on Clarke, Raven, and Finn. 

“You know you are covered in blood again, it seems to be your style,” Harper told him, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. 

Matt was surprised, and just chuckled. “It got pretty rough out there, a few heads were separated from their bodies, you know how it goes. What's been happening here?” 

“That also seems to be your style. A lot of them talked to their families, I don’t think Clarke wanted to talk to her mom, but the rest of them did. You guys interrupted that, but I’m sure they understand,” Harper said softly. 

The storm was blowing in, it started to rain, Matt took a moment to enjoy it, letting the blood wash off of him. 

“Did you talk to your family?” he asked Harper. 

Harper looked down. “Not yet, I didn’t feel I deserved to yet.” 

“Don’t be absurd Harper, of course you deserve to. I told you I would get your family down here first, and I meant that. Talk to them as soon as you are able, okay?” Matt pressed. 

“I..I had forgotten about that Matt..” she stammered. 

“Well there were a couple of other things going on. But I haven’t forgotten. Look, can we talk later? I feel like...I feel like it would be good for both of us,” Matt finished, as the last of the kids went up the ramp. 

Harper nodded and headed inside, Matt could tell she was still having a hard time, but when he was going to have time to spend time with her, he had no idea. Walking past the group, he came to Clarke and Raven, who had Finn on a table, looking feverish. He could hear Abby giving instructions on the radio, but it was choppy. The storm was fully on top of them now. 


	18. Saving Finn

“How is he? Do you need any help?” Matt offered. 

“We have to get that knife out of him, but the storm is interfering with the radio, and I can’t hear my mom. I know we have to close the wound immediately after, can you get a hot blade? Oh God Matt, are you okay, you are covered in blood. And it's not yours is it?” Clarke asked. 

Raven looked at him as well, saying nothing. 

“I’m fine Clarke, no, its not my blood. As for your hot blade, how am I supposed to heat it, we can’t start a fire in this storm. I’ve got nothing,” Matt sighed. 

“Is that all you are good for, being a tough guy? Or is that an act too?” Raven cut in.

“Raven...” Clarke started. 

“Do you know what we had to do to get him home? There are five less grounders out there because of us, so how about you back off Mecha Station?” Matt countered.

There were some murmurs in the group, Raven started again but Clarke cut in,”That’s enough, okay? Matt, I will let you know if I need you, thank you for bringing Finn home.” 

Matt headed for the ladder, he knew Raven was just letting off steam, she was scared for Finn. And it helped him tell the group about the grounders. 

“That’s an unwinnable fight Raven, now here, sterilize your hands,” Clarke whispered. 

Matt called up the ladder, “Charlotte! In a corner where I can see you!” He had had literally no time to explain anything to Charlotte about her fate, he felt bad about that, but now was as good a time as any. He headed up the ladder, spotted her in a corner, and closed the hatch behind him, letting out a deep sigh. 

“Whats going on?” Charlotte asked meekly. 

“A lot. Finn got stabbed by a grounder. There is a storm blowing in, we made contact with the Ark, lots of stuff, it never stops,” Matt responded. 

Taking off his blood stained shirt, he sat down in one of the bucket seats and looked at Charlotte, a murderer. He felt anger towards her, and so he needed to stay calm for this conversation.

“Okay Charlotte,” Matt started, this should have happened sooner, but a lot has happened in the last 24 hours. You have been convicted of first degree murder, do you know what that means?” 

“It means I killed Wells,” Charlotte replied, softly. 

“It means you planned to kill Wells, and you carried out that plan. It's the most serious of crimes Charlotte. On the Ark you would have been floated, but we decided to imprison you. The plan was to use an old abandoned automobile as your cell, and we are still planning on that, but like I said, so much has happened, and we haven’t had time to dig it out. Until that time, this will be your cell, unless we need this space for something else, then we will probably put you in a tent. You aren’t allowed to talk to anyone except Bellamy or myself,, you aren’t allowed to go within ten feet of anyone except Bellamy or myself, and your new designation will be ‘Prisoner #1.’ Do you understand what I’m telling you?” Matt pressed. 

Charlotte nodded. 

Suddenly the hatch opened, and Bellamy came up. 

“Everything okay?” Matt asked. 

“Yeah, help me with this guy,” Bellamy pressed. 

Curious, Matt looked to see who Bellamy was referring to, He was surprised at the sight of it.

“Whoa, its the grounder that stabbed Wells, how did you capture him?” Matt demanded.

“We went back and got him, the storm gave us cover. Sorry we couldn’t grab you, but you were with Clarke and Finn. Its time to get some intel,” Bellamy finished. 

Shocked at the news, Matt pulled the grounder up the ladder, followed by Miller. They tied his arms from wall to wall, and Matt made Charlotte go to the other corner, but he didn’t like it. 

He grabbed Bellamy, “Look man, I support this plan, but we have nowhere to put Charlotte, and I don’t necessarily want her to see this,” Matt whispered. 

“You’re right, take her downstairs, until the storm is past. Make a spot for her and make sure no one goes near her,” Bellamy replied. 

Matt nodded and headed down. “Okay give me some space, I am bringing Charlotte down, henceforth known as Prisoner #1, no one talks to her, no one goes near her, and certainly don’t turn your back on her. Come down, Prisoner #1!”

Charlotte climbed down and couldn’t make eyecontact with anyone, heading for the bucket seat Matt had cleared out for her, and sat down. 

“Remain there until this is all over. No talking,” Matt finished, heading over to check on Clarke. 

“How are you two doing over here?” he asked. 

“There are three of us,” Raven deadpanned. 

“Well I would ask Finn but he looks to be unconscious,” Matt countered. 

“We are about to take the knife out, can you hold him down?” Clarke whispered. 

“Clarke! 3 millimeters! Can you hear me? 3! Millimeters! Got it??”  Abby shouted into the radio, the storm was pounding them. 

“Okay yeah I got it,” Clarke sighed. “Here goes.” 

Clarke took the knife handle firmly and began to pull it out, Finn came alive and started yelling, trying to move his legs, Matt held on as tight as he could. 

“Finn! Hold on! I’m going to get that knife out of you, but you have to hold still, got it? Don’t move Finn!” Clarke yelled. 

There was a loud crash and the whole dropship bucked, knocking everyone down. Clarke and Matt crashed to the floor, along with Raven, and seemingly Finn. 

“Clarke! Can you hear me? What happened? Clarke!” 

Matt stood up and looked at Finn, who was lying on the ground, bleeding everywhere, but the knife was out. 

“Its out. She did it,” Raven said. 

“Lets get him back on the table, grab his legs Raven,” Matt said. 

They lifted Finn back up and onto the table, he had passed out again. 

Kid has more courage than I gave him credit for, still an idiot though, Matt sighed to himself.

“I have to get back upstairs, let us know if you need anything else,” Matt finished, heading back to the ladder, Octavia was trying to get up there too, but he pulled her back down. 

“Where are you going?” Matt demanded. 

“To stop them from torturing that guy. He tried to save me, I don’t-” Octavia responded before Matt cut her off with a wave of his hand.

“Tried to save you? Octavia, we DID save you, from him and his people. He didn’t do anything except stab Finn. Remember when I told you to stop being so eager to hurt the group. Prime example right here. Back down,” Matt shot back. 

“You are wrong, you didn’t see them kill Roma and Diggs, that could have been me,” Octavia tried again. 

“Wait what? You mean those two kids we sent back to camp? How did they get killed? Harper! Did those two make it back to camp?” Matt demanded. 

Harper shook her head no. Matt sighed. That brought the death toll to nine. 

“Regardless Octavia, this is happening, we need intel, and he has it. Just stay down here,” Matt finished. 

He headed upstairs, it looked like Bellamy had started with a seat belt strap. Matt sat down in one of the bucket seats. Bellamy needed to do this on his own. 

“Anything yet?” Matt inquired. 

Bellamy shook his head. 

“I just heard that Roma and Diggs got killed on their way back to camp. That's nine of us, dead,” Matt sighed. 

“Are you serious?” Miller asked. 

Matt nodded as Bellamy let loose with a few more whips. 

“I never should have sent them back on their own, we didn’t even see their bodies. Think they are cannibals?” Matt scoffed. 

More lashes. The grounder wasn’t saying a word. Matt studied him, he looked to be in his mid 20s, well built, developed muscles, eating just fine. Lots of tattoos and what looked to be radiation burns? Maybe their bodies hadn’t full adapted. Bellamy continued to lash him, but the guy was a stone. Not one sound. 

Miller was going through his stuff, and came across a book. The grounder reacted when Miller picked it up. 

“Bellamy, over here, we got something,” Miller said. 

Bellamy walked over, and they flipped through the pages. There were hand drawn pictures of various people, one with tattoos all over his face, another of Matt holding his sword, and another of Octavia. 

“He really captured a good pose of me,” Matt laughed. 

They came across the final page, which was a picture of their camp, and a lot of marks. Nine X’s passed through the marks. 

“I bet if I count them up there are 102, and we have lost nine people. They have been watching us the whole time,” Bellamy remarked, heading back for more lashes. 

Clarke came up the ladder, and saw the grounder. Pulling Bellamy aside, she whispered to them, “Well if he didn’t hate us before he does now.” 

“Who cares?” Bellamy challenged. “How is Finn?”

“Alive. His people will care. What if they come looking for him, or he goes back to them and tells them what we did to him?” 

“Who says we are letting him go?” Matt interjected. 

Clarke shot him a glare, “We are not going to kill him.”

Matt pointed at her, “You aren’t going to kill him. The three of us have already killed five grounders today, tonight, whatever time it is, what is one more?” 

Clarke didn’t let up, “Has he even said anything?” 

“Nothing, but he has told me quite a bit. And when we are done with him, he dies,” Matt finished. 

“Clarke! He is seizing!” Raven shouted. 

“On my way!” Clarke responded frantically, as she headed downstairs. “We aren’t done with this conversation Matt,” she whispered. 

It finally seemed like Bellamy and Clarke were getting stronger, more confident. He wanted Finn to survive, but if it took him getting stabbed to get them to where they were now, Matt would accept it. 

Matt looked at Bellamy, “You about ready to set him free?”

“No, not a chance,” Bellamy replied, returning to the lashing. 

Clarke suddenly came running back up, walking right up to the grounder. 

“What’s on this?” she demanded. 

“Clarke..?” Matt started. 

“He poisoned the blade! All this time he knew Finn was going to die no matter what, WHAT IS IT? Is there an antidote?” she screamed. 

Okay, this is getting bad. But Clarke needs to do this, Matt worried to himself.

“The vials, we found some vials in his things, one of them must be the antidote,” Bellamy said. 

They rummaged through the grounder’s things and picked up the vials. 

“Which one? Our friend is dying and you can help him. Just please tell us!” Clarke pleaded. 

Octavia came up the ladder, increasing the tension. 

“Stop it! Let him go, he doesn’t even understand you Clarke! He saved my life!” Octavia screamed. 

“He wants Finn to die, why can’t you see that?” Bellamy shouted at her. 

“Bellamy,” Matt cut in. “Use your sword.” 

Bellamy unsheathed his sword and cut the grounder’s shirt off, revealing more tattoos. 

Octavia looked at Matt, “Please, you can stop this! He saved my life!” 

“This is about Finn’s life!” Bellamy shouted back. “Do you want to save it or not??” 

“Do it Bellamy,” Clarke relented. 

“No!” Octavia cried, as Miller grabbed her and pulled her aside. 

Bellamy slowly pressed his sword through the grounder’s hand, the grounder clinching his teeth, but saying nothing. Clarke pushed Bellamy aside, knelt down in front of the grounder, laid the vials down in front of her and begged him, 

“Please! Just tell us which one and this ends.” 

The grounder just looked away, and Bellamy moved Clarke out of the way. Octavia tried some more begging, but Miller held her firmly. Bellamy looked backed at Matt, who gave gave him the nod. 

Bellamy slowly pressed his sword through the other hand, and the grounder clinched his teeth yet again, but said nothing. 

Clarke repeated the process, on her knees, looking at him with pleading eyes. But the grounder didn’t relent. 

“Whats taking so long?” Raven demanded, coming up the ladder. “He stopped breathing but he started again, but next time he might not!” 

“He won’t tell us anything!” Clarke cried. 

Raven looked at the grounder, saw the blood dripping from his hands, the lacerations on his chest, the bruises on his face, didn’t even flinch. 

“Wanna bet?” as she marched forward, pulling electrical wires out of the wall. The grounder sensed the danger, and tried to back up. Raven warmed up the wires and pressed them against the grounder’s chest, causing the lights to flicker and the grounder to scream through his teeth. 

“Which one is it!” she demanded. “Come on!” Pressing the wires against his chest again, Clarke was crying, but Matt let it go on. 

“HE IS ALL I HAVE!” Raven screamed. 

To everyone’s shock, Octavia grabbed the knife, ran up to him and cut her own hand, potentially poisoning herself. 

“Please tell us, which one. You won’t let me die, will you?” 

Matt stood up, walking over. The grounder did in fact, motion with his head to the left. Octavia pointed to the one on the far left, holding it up, the grounder nodded. Octavia took a sip and handed the vial to Clarke, who raced downstairs. Matt put his hand on Octavia’s shoulder. 

“Nice work, Octavia. You saved Finn.” he whispered. “Now go get that wound taken care of.” 

Octavia stood up and looked at Matt. “Please don’t kill him.” 

Matt nodded and she headed down. He looked at the grounder, studying him some more. 

Thriving. 


	19. Crushing the Rebellion

Matt descended the ladder and looked outside, the camp looked like a wreck. The group was sorting through the damage, mostly just wind blown. The sun was coming up, it dawned on him that he had forgotten to sleep again. Bellamy and Clarke were carrying Finn to a tent, he looked like he was going to live. Octavia was sitting in a bucket seat at the base of the ladder, and Charlotte was sitting across her, looking down. 

“Prisoner #1, let's move you to a tent. Come on.” Matt escorted her down the ramp, and found an empty tent for her. 

“Murphy!” Matt shouted. Not appearing anywhere, Matt figured he was sleeping so he let it go, looking for someone else. 

“Hey Monty, Jasper, guys! No one goes in this tent okay?” he shouted. 

They gave an affirmative, Harper was there too, she nodded. It was good to see her mingling with the group. He didn’t know how long that had been going on but he was happy about it. He wanted to talk to her, but there was no time. He headed back for the dropship. 

Sitting down across from Octavia, he wanted to see where her head was at. 

“How's it going Octavia?” he started.

“Fantastic,” she replied sarcastically. “My brother blames me for our mother’s death, you want to kill the grounder that saved my life, nobody seems to care about the fact we tortured him for nothing, and I’m not allowed to see him.” 

“Anything else?” Matt asked. 

“No, that's all I got,” she shot back. 

“Truthfully Octavia I only care about one of those things, but let me ask you something. How many times did you almost die yesterday?” Matt pressed. 

Octavia sighed. “At least four times, maybe five.” 

Matt nodded. “And out of those four or five near death experiences, how many times did someone else save you?” 

Octavia sighed again and looked at him. “Every time.” 

Matt nodded. “You need to work on that Octavia. Because I don’t trust you. You have a huge problem with authority, and you don’t appreciate anyone. We risked our lives for you yesterday, and we lost Diggs and Roma, and I haven’t even heard so much as a ‘thank you.’ That's on you. No one else is the problem here.” Matt stood up. “Now get lost, I need to talk to the Ark about adult shit, and I don’t have time to babysit. Go.” He pointed. 

Octavia scoffed, “I’m not moving until you and Bellamy let me see him.” 

“Is that so?” Matt asked, as he reached down and pulled Octavia to her feet, slinging her down the ramp and into the mud.

She stood up to see him pulling the lever, raising the dropship ramp. 

“Screw you Matt!” she screamed. 

He stopped the ramp, remembering he needed Clarke and Bellamy.

“Clarke! Bellamy! Come on over here!” Matt shouted. 

Clarke came out of the tent, leaving Finn and Raven behind. She looked at Octavia covered in mud, and thought it best to keep moving. Hopping up on the ramp and entering the dropship. Bellamy followed behind her, also looking at Octavia without saying a word. Matt finished closing the door. 

“What was all that about?” Clarke asked. 

Matt just sighed. “Octavia being a handful, as always. Let's talk to the Ark, for real. You start, we will listen in. We have a lot to talk about.”

“What should I lead with?” 

“Start with the fact that we are dying from starvation and exposure, see if they have any tips for that. Then address the fact we have captured a grounder prisoner, and are divided about what to do with him. After that, we will just see where the conversation takes us,” Matt suggested. 

“Okay, Raven set up a video feed. Lets get this over with,” Clarke said, softly. 

“Clarke, wait. Is everything okay? You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, we can handle it,” he pressed. 

“Actually Matt, if you don’t mind, can we switch places to start?” she asked. 

“Sure. Okay,” Matt whispered. 

He sat down in the chair and put the headset on. “This is Camp Exodus calling Ark Station, come in,” Matt said calmly. 

“Yes Camp Exodus, we read you. This is the Chancellor, can you see me?” Jaha responded, as he came into view. 

“Yes I see you,” Matt replied. He still wasn’t enamored with Jaha, but he had sympathy for the man, his son had just been killed after all. 

“Matt, how are you? I notice you are covered in blood. I hope it's not yours.” Jaha pressed. 

“No Chancellor, it's not mine. I forgot about it honestly, I’ve gotten used to having blood on me, especially since we can’t really bathe. One of many amenities we are living without,” Matt lamented. 

“How is Finn doing? May I ask what happened to him?” Jaha asked. 

“Finn is recovering. As for what happened to him, let's see, yesterday Octavia Blake was captured by the grounders, we mounted a rescue mission, forced our way deep into grounder territory, killing five of theirs while taking one prisoner, rescued Octavia, but Finn was stabbed in the process.” 

“So they are hostile towards you?” Marcus Kane cut in. 

“Did you figure that out all by yourself Kane? I still have nothing to say to you, disappear, better yet, go float yourself,” Matt waved him off in disgust. 

“Matt, it bothers me that you and Clarke are quarreling with your parents, it doesn’t help anyone.” Jaha pressed. 

“My quarrel with Kane will be over when I kill him, end of story. As for Clarke, I don’t know anything about her problems with her Mom, but if I had to guess, I bet it's related to her father and your barbaric ways. More importantly, why is Kane still on the Council? Did you pardon him for sending his guards to physically abuse me in the skybox? Are you people even worth saving?” Matt threw his hands up in the air, this was going worse than he anticipated, and he hadn’t even brought up Wells yet. 

“Matt,” Clarke whispered, holding up her hands, “You’ve got this.” 

“The Council might not be worth saving, but the people on the Ark are,” Bellamy urged him. 

“Matt,” the Chancellor cut in, “I didn’t believe the evidence was enough to kick Kane off the Council, nor relieve him of his position of Chief of Security.”

“Are you kidding me? Two eyewitness accounts, on top of the fact I had the keys to two cells, and Abby missed walking in on Clarke and I by mere seconds? I was free to go wherever I wished in the skybox, how is that even possible? Was I not in isolation? Was Clarke not in isolation? I should just talk to the new leadership after they kill you all,” Matt waved his arms again. 

“Matt, are you saying you have information on who shot me and killed those two people in the hallway next to your dropship?” the Chancellor pressed. 

“That's not the right question you idiot. The question is, who put the gun in the shooter’s hands? The question really is, when are they going to try again? Because they are! You are going to die Chancellor Jaha, they are going to kill you. You are going to be assassinated very soon. You have started Project Exodus right? You aren’t going to complete it. You aren’t going to complete it unless I choose to save you. And you haven’t given me a compelling reason to do that!” Matt shouted. 

“Chancellor, it's clear Matt is not in a clear mind, perhaps he should get some rest and you can continue this conversation later?” a woman’s voice cut in. Matt didn’t recognize it. 

“Who just said that?” Matt demanded. 

“It was Councilor Sydney, and perhaps she is right Matt..” Jaha started. 

Matt cut him off, “When did this Councilor Sydney get to be on the Council?” Matt pressed. 

This is it. This is her. The woman that patsy told me about before I cut off his head. How should I play this? THINK. Matt’s mind was racing. 

“She took the spot Dr. Griffin left behind when we removed her for her antics with Raven Reyes,” Jaha replied. 

“Wait what? We will come back to that, let me talk to this..Councilor Sydney. 

“The Chancellor turned the video feed to show an older, blonde woman, with piercing blue eyes. Matt wasn’t impressed. 

“Hello Matt.” she started. 

Matt just stared at her for a few moments, then he began to smile. “What's your name?” he started out. 

“Councillor Diane Sydney, she tried to smile back, but it was fake. She seemed a bit thrown off. 

“Are you a little nervous there, Diane Sydney? I would be, if I was you. I would be very nervous,” Matt smiled. He could feel his adrenaline rising, he was enjoying this, but he had to keep it under control this time. 

“What do I have to be nervous about, Matt?” Sydney asked. 

“A lot,” Matt replied with a smile. “A helluva lot. How is your buddy, what was his name? Shumway. How is your old pal Shumway doing these days?” 

Councilor Diane Sydney paused to look at the Chancellor, who was clearly eyeing her, she was the center of attention in that room. Matt was reading her every move. 

“I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Lieutenant Shumway before he was savagely murdered. ” she replied. “Do you know anything about that Matt?” 

Matt unsheathed his sword and laid it down on the table in front of him. “Maybe a couple of things,” he laughed. “Hey Kane?”

“Yes? What is it Matt?” Marcus Kane responded. 

“Stand up. Block the exit,” Matt smiled.

He could see Kane walk behind Diane Sydney, who looked extremely uncomfortable. 

“Whats going on here, Matt?” Chancellor Jaha. 

“Well you see Chancellor, Bellamy Blake was recruited to kill you, because I turned them down. I told the amateur rebels that I would take out Kane. But their pitch to me was so weak, so fundamentally stupid, that I simply used them to get a few things I wanted, including this Roman sword that somehow found its way to Outer Space. Then I, of course, betrayed them. But not before, and you are gonna love this Diane Sydney, I pumped her patsy for every ounce of knowledge in his little brain,” Matt laughed, holding up both his fists and clinching them as he smiled. 

“You would not believe how talkative people can be when they have a sword in their stomach, it's remarkable! They just want the suffering to end, they want that sweet release. It's a testament to the weakness of these rebels, that it wouldn't work on the grounder prisoner we have. But it certainly worked on this patsy,” Matt laughed. The adrenaline high felt amazing. 

“And what did this man tell you?” Kane pressed. 

“Does it matter?? People will say anything when they are being tortured! You can’t use anything he said as evidence!” Sydney shouted. 

“Seems like your level of nervousness is increasing, Diane Sydney,” Matt observed with a smile. 

“You are a savage, and when I get down there I will deal with you!” she yelled at him, as she started to rise, but Marcus Kane was there to push her back down in her seat. 

“Is there something you would like to share with the Council, Councilor Sydney?” Marcus asked. 

“This is ridiculous! Are we going to trust the word of a boy that cut a man’s head off over a Councilor that represents the workers of the entire Ark??” 

“Councilor Sydney, there are only three people on this whole station that know the circumstances of those murders, and you are not one of them.” Kane stated. 

“So how did you know, Diane?” Chancellor Jaha pressed. 

“I..” she stammered. She tried to make a break for the door, but Kane was there. As she struggled with him, Kane threw her against the table in an effort to pin her down, but the angle was bad, and her head hit the edge. Her body went completely limp, and she collapsed to the floor. 

“Wow Kane did you kill her?” Matt asked in surprise. “That takes care of that problem.” The adrenaline rush had passed, and Matt felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. The rebellion had officially been crushed, but there were still a few areas to mop up. 

“Her neck is broken. I..I didn’t mean to kill her. It was an accident.” Marcus whispered.

“We all saw her trying to resist Marcus. It's not your fault.” Chancellor Jaha said, softly. 

“We have to get her to Medical..” Marcus tried. 

“NO,” Matt cut him off. “Listen Kane, she was planning a coup, who knows how many backers she had, the fewer people that know she is dead, the better. Stash her body there for a bit.” 

“How do you know that?” Kane shouted. He seemed to be as bad as handling an adrenaline high as Matt. 

“Because Kane, I told them how to do it. Everything that has happened on the Ark, I have accounted for. I told them how to stage their coup, who their targets should be, what method to use, I told them everything, then I burned them. And their insurance policy amongst the 100? Well, lets just say it lost its head. This is all going according to plan. MY plan,” Matt smiled. 

“To be honest, I was worried about whether or not you idiots would come through, especially since the Chancellor kept you on the Council, but sometimes you just get lucky I guess.” Matt remarked. 

“Hey, our pardons,” Bellamy whispered. 

Matt held up his hand, “I got it,” he whispered back.

“So, Chancellor Jaha. Do you want to know the rest of Sydney’s plan?” Matt started. 

Jaha pulled the video screen back to the center of the table. “Yes Matt, of course I do.” 

“Then you are going to have to pardon Bellamy Blake and I for our ‘crimes.’ Matt did an air quote. “Thats the price.” 

Jaha sighed. As if he had any choice in the matter. “Bellamy Blake, Matt Kane, you are hereby pardoned for your crimes.” 

Bellamy let out a deep sigh, and gave Clarke a huge hug. “Its over,” he whispered to her. 

Matt waved at Bellamy, “I told you I would come through for us, you can go relax man. Take a load off. Clarke and I got this.” 

Bellamy headed back upstairs to the grounder, whose fate Matt still had to figure out, as a group. Clarke looked at him and smiled, she had been kept in the dark for most of this, but she understood the gravity of the situation. 

“You just saved thousands of people, most likely.” she whispered. 

Matt nodded, “Alright Kane, Chancellor Jaha, listen well. I told them to use a bomb, to take out the entire Council. Sydney planned on stepping into the leadership void created by it, but like I said, the fact I had to tell them that told me they weren’t cut out for the job. Tomorrow is Unity Day. Where those kids do their march, all of the Council is there, Abby Griffin is there, you make a speech, then midway through it, you all blow up, and there is no one to oppose Sydney’s agenda. So, go through with the preparations, put everything there that is supposed to be there. That way the rebellion thinks everything is normal. Then just don’t show up. No one is there, the bomb blows, a cake dies, some chairs get rearranged, who cares. Rebellion fails. 

Now, you must secure the Exodus ship. I’m sure you are prepping it now, they were planning on stealing it, I guarantee. They might get desperate and try something there. Don’t let anyone near the ship, only people you trust. I would recommend Charles Pike to head up security. Anybody tries anything, anything fishy going on, just shoot them and be done with it. Also, make sure the Council is completely separated from now on, with additional security. Actually, I would just go public after the bomb blows. Pin it all on Sydney, tell them she has been floated. It will break the rebellion, any remnants will die with that news. Then just..come down to Earth. You can go over that with Clarke. 

I estimate you have four days before the grounders come and kill us all. So send people that can fight, along with people that can follow my orders. Actually, everyone on the first ship should be able to follow my orders. You guys always called yourselves a transition generation, well, congratulations, you have transitioned to Clarke, Bellamy, and myself.” Matt finished.  . 

“Do you have any other questions in regards to this issue?” Matt asked. 

“That is a remarkably thorough plan Matt. As for the Exodus ships coming down, we had planned on the Council coming first..” Jaha started.

“Which is exactly why a rebellion was brewing,” Matt cut him off. “Look, you don’t understand, this is why the people hate you. You sent 100 kids down here to die, kids with parents, and then the first ship down after them was going to be worthless Council members? It should be the families of the kids, or at the very least, members of the guard. We are surrounded by a hostile force, they are coming to kill us, what is the Council going to accomplish down here?” Matt exclaimed. 

“Look, I betrayed the rebellion because they were incompetent, and trading one incompetent leadership group for another solves exactly zero problems. But you still have to deal with the fact that you all are incompetent,” Matt sighed. 

Matt held up his hands, “Just tell me you understand the plan to survive the bomb tomorrow at Unity Day, specifically, not showing up. Then, track down Charles Pike, I want to talk to him alone. Then I will leave you with Clarke to talk about everything else.” 

The Chancellor motioned to someone out of view and studied Matt. “I understand the plan to assassinate me, and I will survive it Matt. Now, when was the last time you slept?” 

Matt sighed, “It's been about 48 hours since I had any REM sleep. Or more. I don’t know. It was the night your son, Wells, was killed. Which, I know you want details on that, and you deserve them. I will get those to you as soon as I can. It's hard for me to sleep down here, considering Shumway had an insurance plan to assassinate the three of us.” 

“Matt..I don’t know what to say to that. Charles Pike is here, we will give you the room, then we will talk with Clarke. And Matt? Thank you for saving us from a rebellion, I promise, we will work on our..incompetence,” Jaha finished. 

“I still love promises,” Matt muttered. 

“Are you doing okay?” Clarke pressed. “Everything is always so intense with you Matt.” 

Tell me about it. Just want one day...Matt sighed to himself.

“I’m okay,” Matt sighed. “I just want to talk to Pike about what he thinks we should do with the grounder prisoner, then I would really like to get some sleep. With Harper. Can you show us your secret sex cave?” 

Clarke nodded as Pike appeared on the video feed. 

“Matt!” Pike exclaimed. “You look awful. When was the last time you slept?”

“Or bathed? It's been a while Pike. How are you?” Matt chuckled. 

“I’m holding up well. They just told me not to say a word about the dead body over there or I’m floated. You want to give me some more information?” Pike asked, nervously. 

“Pike, it's a lot. That was the leader of a rebellion, she was planning on blowing up the Council at tomorrow’s Unity Day celebration. I exposed her, she died trying to escape, That actually was an accident, we need to keep it quiet until the bomb blows tomorrow,” Matt sighed. This wasn’t a detour he planned on taking, but he could make use of it. 

“Matt, how do you know all that?” Pike asked incredulously. 

“I gave them the idea. They recruited me on the Ark, I betrayed them, now they are dying for it. Listen Pike, I need you to do something for me. Keep an extra eye on that Exodus ship being prepped. I think the last remnants of the rebellion are going to try something with it, and they could do a lot of damage to the Ark if successful. You see anything shady, you act. Got it?” Matt pressed. 

“Sure Matt, I will see what I can do. This is nuts man,” Pike exclaimed. 

“Listen Pike, I’m on the ground. Planet Earth, and I haven’t had a calm day yet, we are surrounded by a hostile grounder force, trying to kill us. We have lost nine kids already, and we have killed five grounders. I know a thing or two about insanity. Okay? Just have faith in me for one or two days,” Matt urged. 

“Wait what? There are survivors on the ground? How many?” Pike asked. 

“Please Pike, focus on what I’m telling you,” Matt sighed. “Listen, I need your advice on something. Can I ask for that?” 

Pike could tell Matt was fraying, “Of course Matt. My bad man. What can I help you with?” 

“We have a grounder prisoner here, extremely resistant to torture, he isn’t going to say a word to us about anything. Ever. In my mind, he has outlived his usefulness. But I’m not sure how I feel about just executing him. My fellow leaders, Clarke and Bellamy, are against it. What do you think I should do?” Matt asked. 

Pike sighed. “Listen Matt, you grew up on the Ark, the slightest infraction gets you killed up here. You know what it's like to be ruthless. I know you don’t want to live that way anymore, but you said you are surrounded by a hostile force. They have killed nine of your people. We don’t always get what we want Matt. I wanted to get a kid and start over, now all the kids are on Planet Earth. Now I want to join you down there, and live a happy life. But based on what you're saying, I’m going to have to fight for it. And if there is one less grounder for me to fight when I get there, I’ll take it. You get me?” 

Matt sighed. “Yeah Pike, I get what you're saying. Okay. Thanks man. And remember what I said, watch that Exodus ship. The lives of every person on the Ark depends on it. I’ll see you later,” Matt finished. 

He stood up and looked at Clarke, “I don’t blame you for wanting to switch places with me. Can you show me the sex cave before sitting down with these idiots?” 

“Of course Matt, let's get Harper and some water. I’ll just tell them the plan real quick and meet you out there,” Clarke finished. 


	20. Matt's Penance

Matt headed down the ramp, spotting Octavia sitting against the dropship wall, still covered in mud. 

Admiring her persistence, he walked over to her and squatted down, “Listen Octavia, I’m heading to bed. The last time I slept for real, I was out 12 hours. I imagine it's going to be a similar amount of time this time around. Which means you have that long to get that grounder out of this camp if you want him to live. If I come back and he is still here, I’m cutting his head off, you hear me?” 

Octavia looked at him angrily, “How am I supposed to do that, Bellamy and Miller won’t let me near him.” 

“That’s your problem,” Matt finished, standing up and walking away. He looked around for Harper, not seeing her right away, and not feeling like looking for her.

“Harper!” he shouted. 

She popped out of a tent almost immediately, walking over. “Hey Matt, um. You look exhausted, everything okay?” 

“Everything is great, I saved the Ark from the rebels, now Clarke is showing me to her secret sex cave...um, I mean, Clarke is showing me a safe place to sleep. Would you like to come with me?” Matt stammered. 

Harper giggled. “Wow Matt, sure. Its the perfect opportunity for me to take you out,” she laughed, taking his hand. 

“Did I mention all of your rebel friends are dead?” he shot back with a grin. “Lets check in on Finn and Raven while we wait on Clarke.”

They walked over to the tent Finn was confined to, Harper kept his hand. 

This is nice. Or maybe I am just so tired I will take anything. No, this is nice, Matt thought to himself.

“Knock knock, coming in. How is the Spacewalker doing?” Matt called out. 

“Better than you, when was the last time you slept?” Raven asked. 

“Is it that obvious? Jeez,” Matt sighed. “Clarke is taking us somewhere safe to sleep right now. Really, how are you Finn?” 

“Why do you need somewhere safe to sleep? What makes you special?” Raven pressed. 

“Mecha Station, please, back it down. I have this problem with assassins trying to kill me. Therefore, I don’t sleep too much. I’m trying to check in on Finn,” Matt glared at Raven. 

“I’m good! Didn’t you two break up?” Finn asked. 

“Okay Harper, lets go. These two are clearly fine. Let's leave them to their love triangle,” Matt finished, heading out, still holding her hand as Raven shot him a look. 

Just trying to be nice, for real. Good luck Mecha Station. I’m not gonna be your rebound guy, Matt sighed again.

Clarke approached them, carrying some extra water rations, “I’m gonna check in on Finn and..”

“Don’t bother,” Harper cut her off. “We literally just came from there, and Raven treated Matt like shit. Pretty ungrateful considering everything he did to bring Finn back alive. Let's just go.” 

Clarke stared at Harper for a moment, ”Right then, lets go.” 

They started out, Harper never letting go of Matt’s hand. He considered talking to Clarke about a few things, namely her Mom, but decided to just leave it for now. Their destination wasn’t far, Clarke announced their arrival and Matt looked around, confused. 

“We are in the middle of the woods..” he started.

“Yeah, look,” Clarke said, opening a hatch, revealing a ladder down. “Here are some water rations, and some rags, actually clean, they have a sink, you can use it to bathe each other. If you want to, that is. Whatever you guys want to do,” she stumbled. 

“Way to make that as awkward as possible Clarke,” Harper laughed. 

Clarke just looked down and smiled. “Sorry,” she whispered. 

“Listen Clarke. Thanks for everything today. I’m going to be out until tomorrow, and it's only midday now, so that's about 18 hours that you have to hold down the camp with Bellamy. Please try not to burn the place down this time. Oh and find Murphy, he has been passed out from Monty’s moonshine long enough, he needs to get back to work. I know he felt bad about losing Octavia, but we need everyone. If you can make time, dig that automobile out of the ground,” Matt finished. 

“We got it, Matt. Don’t worry, try to enjoy your reservation with Harper this time. And that wasn’t awkward at all Clarke..” she trailed off.

“Oh my God, just go,” Harper laughed. 

Matt headed down the ladder, and Harper dropped the water to him and followed. They walked into the shelter, it looked like an actual home. Two beds, sheets, a bathroom with a sink, toys for kids, electricity.

“This will work..” Matt whispered. He turned to see Harper had already taken her shirt off, and was losing her pants. Matt didn’t even have a shirt on, he couldn’t remember when he lost it. 

“Oh um..moving fast huh?” Matt stammered. 

“Take off your pants, and go sit over there in front of the sink. We are definitely bathing each other first,” she laughed. 

“That sounds great, yeah,” Matt admitted, losing his pants and sitting down. Harper walked to the sink and poured some water into the bowl. Soaking a rag in it, she walked behind Matt and squeezed the excess water onto his bloodstained back. 

“Ohhh,” he shivered a little bit. “That feels good.” 

She slowly wiped his shoulders and back, he was covered in blood and grime. He felt embarrassed for being so filthy. 

“Matt,” she whispered. “You have been fighting nonstop since we landed. It's crazy how hard you, Bellamy, and Clarke have worked so hard to keep all of us alive. And it's humiliating to me that I was supposed to kill all three of you. I mean, we would all be dead, had I succeeded,” she started to cry. 

Matt grabbed her hand on his shoulder and held it. “Shh Harper, you don’t have anything to be sorry for, I understand why you accepted Shumway’s offer. I don’t blame you for it.”

She nodded and continued to wipe him down, rinsing the rag off in the sink, it was absolutely filthy. 

“Uh, how many rags do we have? Did you even finish my back?” he whispered. 

“Clarke gave us about five, but we can find some more in here I bet,” she admitted. 

“Just save one for you, okay?” he insisted. 

She nodded and continued to clean his back, he just sat quietly, thinking about how to address the elephant in the room. She moved to his arms, and then hands. He looked down at her and she matched his gaze. 

“Harper...” he started. But he couldn’t, not yet. She leaned in and gave him a kiss, he kissed her back, it felt good. But they weren’t ready yet. 

“Too soon for that, isn’t it?” she whispered. 

He nodded as she moved down to his legs and feet, which were far less grimy. She put the rag away and just rubbed his legs, he was incredibly tense. He didn’t even know how to relax anymore. She rested her head on top of his knee and they just sat, quietly. 

“Let's switch places, and then we can get in bed okay? You don’t have to lie with me if you don’t want to, but I would be grateful if you did,” Matt whispered. 

Harper nodded and they switched places. Matt started by taking her bra off, she had either forgotten about it, or didn’t want to, but she didn’t stop him. Her back was also grimy, but at least there was no blood. He wiped her down, got her arms, her legs, her feet. He took his own time rubbing her legs, and she just let him. She had managed to stay a lot cleaner, but that wasn’t exactly hard compared to everything Matt had been doing. He finished up and walked over to the bed, it looked amazing. 

He sat down in it, and then laid down on the pillow, looking up at her. She had walked over, and stood in front of him, covering her breasts. “Scoot over,” she whispered. He did and she laid down, her back to him, as he covered them with the blanket. 

“Hold me close Matt,” she whispered, leaning into him. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in. This was a lot better than the stupid, mindless kissing. 

“Talk to me Matt,” she whispered. She knew what they had to talk about, and so did he.

“That night,” he started. “I was disappointed, but not surprised. It made sense that Shumway would have insurance, he believed he thought of everything, he was almost right.” 

She just laid in silence. He needed to get through this, there wasn’t much for her to say. Not yet at least. 

“At first, I just wanted to scare you. When I think about it, I could have literally stopped after killing Jason and would have been at 100% mission completion. 100%, But the adrenaline was flowing, and I loved it. I was high on it, so I continued. I had seen Bellamy hang Adam from a tree, so I copied that. He was in no position to object, he was probably as freaked out as you. So up you went,” he continued. 

She kept listening. He took a breath, held her closely, and went on. “At that point, the goal was to just keep scaring you. We pumped you for information, and that's when it hit. You said the codeword was Grace, and everything changed. I was enraged. It sent me over the edge, even Bellamy noticed, and pulled me out of it, sent me away to cool off. I went and chopped down our tree.”

“Bellamy saw that Matt,” she whispered. “He urged me to tell him everything I knew, even if I just had, he could tell it affected you, and he didn’t know what was going to happen next. I had to give him something else. Grace. It was your mother’s name, wasn’t it?” she asked, softly. 

“Yes,” he replied. “That depraved Shumway must have thought he was being funny. He had already paid for that sin, but it wasn’t enough for me. I couldn’t kill him again, I needed to take my anger out on something, the tree wasn’t enough. It had to be you Harper.” 

Matt started to cry, he didn’t know why at first. Maybe it was the thought of his mom. But he knew it wasn’t. Harper grabbed his hand and held it close, but said nothing. 

He collected himself and continued. “When Clarke came out, I wanted nothing to do with her, but she brought my rage down just a notch, then when she walked over to Bellamy, it came down another notch. But I was still boiling. So you dug the hole while we brought Clarke in on the plot. She said something stupid and that didn’t help me. I had to follow through on what I started with you. That’s when you went in the hole with Jason.” 

Matt started to cry some more. He tried to collect himself again but couldn’t, she helped him along. “Finish the story, Matt.” she whispered. 

“When you went in the hole, I wasn’t trying to scare you anymore Harper, I was trying to hurt you. The things I said to you, they were just to hurt you. You didn’t deserve any of it, but I couldn’t stop. When Clarke put her hand on my shoulder, that went a long way to bringing me back from the depths. My anger subsided enough to get you out of there. Honestly if Clarke and Bellamy weren’t there, I don’t know..” He couldn’t finish. 

They laid in silence for what seemed like an eternity. “I’m sorry Harper,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.” 

Harper rolled over and looked into his eyes. She could see the pain in them. The resentment of the monster that lived inside of him. “When you went to rescue Octavia, you killed those grounders, the same way you killed Jason?” she asked. 

“Just the first one, I asked Bellamy to make sure I kept the adrenaline in control, and he did. The rest of them, I just killed normally. If you know what I mean,” he replied softly. 

“You didn’t behead them,” she finished for him. 

“Right,” he whispered. 

She nuzzled up against him. The bed was so comfortable, he was struggling to stay awake, even with Harper so close to him. “I forgive you Matt. You are pardoned,” she whispered.

“Thank you Harper,” Matt whispered back. He hugged her tightly. They laid together for a while, enjoying the comfort. 

“Hey Harper?” he whispered. She looked up at him. “Promise me you will be here when I wake up, I don’t want you going back to camp on your own.” 

“I’m not going anywhere Matt, close your eyes. Sleep,” she whispered back. 

The dreams came, they were good dreams, touching on the Ark, his mom, even Harper. They slept soundly for a long time, everyone had been struggling to survive, this was a much needed break. 

Matt woke up and looked around, Harper was still sleeping. He tried to get out of bed without waking her, but it was impossible. 

“How long did we sleep?” she whispered. 

“I don’t know, I feel good though, so it was probably 8-10 hours. Let me check outside,” he whispered back. 

He headed up the ladder and pushed the hatch open, it was pitch black, he could barely see anything. Not time to head home yet. He came back down the ladder, Harper was putting her bra back on, but stopped there, she looked up at him with curiosity. 

“It's pitch dark out there, probably 2 or 3 in the morning, no reason to head back to camp yet,” Matt said, sitting down on the bed opposite her. “What do you want to do now? Is there anything else you want to talk about? Did you sleep okay?” 

“That was the best sleep I have had since we got down here, even with your snoring,” Harper giggled. 

“Oh God, I’m sorry,” Matt stammered. 

Harper laughed, “Don’t worry about it.” Motioning to the bed, “Come back over here and let me give you a massage this time,” she smiled. 

“Oh man, that sounds great. You will probably have to massage me for hours to get me loose though, I can’t ask for that,” Matt sighed. 

“Get over here Matt,” she commanded. 

Matt hopped up, and laid down in the bed with her, as she moved down to the foot, picking up his feet. “Oh my God your muscles are so tight,” she whispered. 

Her hands felt amazing on his feet, and Matt just closed his eyes. 

“Where did you learn how to fight so well Matt?” she whispered. 

“On the Ark,” he replied. 

Harper rolled her eyes and twisted his muscles tightly, causing him to cry out in pain. “Matt? Scream into the pillow,” she commanded, twisting his muscles again. He let out a cry into the pillow. 

“You want to talk to me Matt, or keep screaming into that pillow?” she hissed at him. 

“Okay I will talk to you,” Matt urged. 

“That's better, now tell me about your life on the Ark,” she whispered, continuing to work his feet.

“When I was little a bunch of kids beat me up because of who my father was. So, my mom started to homeschool me. She taught me philosophy, science, she wanted me to be an intellectual. Kane tried to teach me about the justice system, but he was bad at it, and I didn’t want to hear it, and I drifted away from him. Somehow, Charles Pike came into my life, essentially replacing Kane. He taught me Earth Skills, tactics, how to survive. Couple of years later, I was beat up again in the cafeteria. Thats when my mom introduced me to Bruce Lee, a martial artist from the 20 th century. I was completely enamored with his fighting ability, particularly his kicks. But it wasn’t just his fighting ability, it was his philosophy, he had so much to say about living. I wanted to be just like him. AHH!” Matt yelled out, and screamed into the pillow a bit more, Harper had moved on to his calves. 

“These muscles are so tight Matt, you are just going to have to scream a little,” she remarked. 

He did, he screamed into the pillow the whole time she was on his calfs. She finally finished and moved up to legs. It felt amazing. 

“Continue your story Matt,” she whispered. 

“Pike started to train me privately, I think he lost friends over it, but he could see my potential, plus, he wanted a son of his own, and I was the closest thing. We worked out together, developed my body muscles, my kicking ability. He built my confidence up, told me I had to grow up fast if I was going to survive. I was determined to succeed. I started apprenticing, unofficially, in Engineering and Medical with the Griffins. I liked them both, they were good people,” he trailed off. 

“That's how you fell in love with Clarke?” she whispered

“Um, no actually. I was never in love with Clarke. I barely saw her, she was attractive, but she kept me at arms length. She didn’t want the drama of being seen with me. We were never together, I was kind of disappointed about it, but I understood. Being an outcast meant being an outcast. But no nothing happened between us, even in the skybox, it was one massage, some light kissing, that's it. It was a..relationship of convenience. I used her to frame Kane for the fighting pits, and it didn’t even work. When we got down here, I wanted to separate from her immediately, she was so bent on saving everyone, even a total random she had never met, I was not even there with that. Not at that point, at least. No, I’ve never been in love with anyone,” Matt sighed. 

“MMPH,” Matt screamed into the pillow, Harper had reached his lower thighs, this is the point where both she and Clarke had lost control. Harper was aggressively contorting his muscles.

“MMMPPPH!!” Matt screamed again. “Oh my god, Harper...” he gasped for air. 

“Just like that Matt, scream my name,” she smiled

“Harper...” he gasped. 

“Was that a scream? You can do better than that,” she prodded, twisting his muscles in her hands. 

“HARPER!!” Matt yelled, before burying his head into the pillow. She laughed and jumped onto his back, massaging his shoulders. 

“That was nice wasn’t it?” she whispered into his ear. 

“It was amazing,” Matt gasped. 

“Tell me more about your life on the Ark, Matt,” she whispered. 

“When I was 14, a guy came at me with a shiv, that was the first real assassination attempt, I kicked him so hard, I thought I killed him. He flew backwards, and the guards were coming. I quickly picked him up and told him to run away, never showing his face to me again. He was so scared he was going to get floated, he fled. The guards asked me what happened and I told them I was sparring with someone and it got a little out of hand, but everything was fine. They didn’t like that answer and reported me to Kane, who demanded to know what had really happened. I told him the truth but couldn’t remember who the man was, he liked that answer even less. Thats when we really drifted apart and I upped my training with Pike. The rest of the story, you pretty much know,” Matt finished. 

“Roll over Matt, give me your hands,” Harper whispered. Matt rolled over underneath her and gave her his hands. She started working on them. 

“These hands have done so much to keep us all alive,” she whispered, caressing them against her cheek. “Keep talking to me please.” 

“What do you want to know?” Matt asked. 

“Did you dream about coming down here?” she asked. 

“My mom and I talked about coming down all the time, we knew the ground was survivable, she wanted to lead a scientific expedition down, and if she died doing it, she would have accepted it. I wanted to be right next to her of course. We could never convince Kane or Jaha to support it, they didn’t want to risk a ship when they didn’t feel they had to.” Matt trailed off again, closing his eyes. 

He felt he was about to cry again when Harper grabbed his head, and pressed her forehead against his. 

“Shh, its okay Matt.” They shared another kiss, this time a real one. He tried to move his hands but she grabbed them and pinned him against the mattress. She finally broke the kiss and let him breathe, he gasped for air. 

“Oh my..” he tried but she kissed him again, still pinning his arms to the bed. She held the kiss for as long as he could stand it and let him breathe again. 

Gasping for air, he couldn’t even form words as she kissed him again, this time raising his leg up and holding onto it. She was in complete control as she broke the kiss and sat up. 

“How does it feel being on the other side of it?” she laughed. 

“Oh my God, what a monster,” he gasped. 

She kept smiling and stood up, looking for her clothes. 

Matt grabbed her arm, “Wait….wait,” as he collapsed onto the pillow. He took a moment to collect himself, “We still have a lot of time. Let's switch places again, let me finish your massage.” 

Harper grinned at him, “Let me actually make sure the sun isn’t coming up, before I give up control of you.” She headed up the ladder and opened the hatch. “Wow, it is pitch black out here. Okay then,” she finished, coming back down. 

Walking back to the bed and grinning at him, “What should I do I wonder?” 

Matt looked at her intently. “You liked being in control didn’t you? You liked hearing me scream your name in agony,” he smiled. 

Harper nodded, “I really did,” she laughed. 

Matt smiled, “Alright then.” He rolled over onto his stomach, “Come back and sit on top of me again.” 

Harper mounted him and caressed his back. She let her hands rest on him. 

“Talk to me Harper..tell me what you want,” he whispered. 

“I want..I want to be next to you Matt. I want to be in your circle of trust, I want to learn from you, to become strong, like you. I want to make a difference the way you, Bellamy and Clarke are,” she whispered. 

Matt put his head on the pillow and enjoyed her touch. He grabbed her hand on his shoulder again and held it. 

“And you want friendship, not love, right?” he whispered. 

Harper nodded. “Matt, we hurt each other too much for there to be any real love. And before you say anything, tonight has been the night of my life, but we needed this closure. And again, before you say anything, don’t blame yourself for us not working out. Yes, you hurt me, but I’m not innocent. I seduced you, I made you feel loved, and then I betrayed you and tried to kill you. I failed, thank God, but you were still deeply hurt. Which yeah! That beats being dead, but it's still really bad. So we are both equally guilty of hurting each other. All we can do is move on, and I want to move on, as your partner, your confidant, your friend Matt, but not your lover,” she finished. 

Matt laid there in silence for a bit, then whispered, “You have been thinking about that for a while huh?” 

“About two days, which down here, is literally an eternity. Think about all the insane things that have happened in the last two days,” she waved her arms.

“Is it okay if I don’t think about that, like at all?” Matt asked. 

“Yes Matt, it's okay!” Harper laughed. 

“Does this mean I don’t have to give you a massage?” Matt finished. 

“Oh hell no! No I’m getting my massage, after you bring me in on everything that's happened, so start talking!” she urged. 

They switched places, Harper lying on her stomach, taking her bra off, and rested her head on the pillow while Matt took her feet into his hands. “Harper?” Matt whispered.

“Yes Matt?” she asked softly.

“Why don’t you tell me about your life on the Ark?” he suggested. 

Harper sighed, “Honestly Matt, I would prefer to just scream into the pillow, if you don’t mind.”

Matt smiled, “Oh I don’t mind.” He aggressively twisted her calf muscles, causing Harper to shriek into the pillow.

“MMMMPPHHH!!,” coming up for air, “Maaattt, you monster, Ohhh God!” she cried out. 

“How much can you take I wonder?” Matt smiled. 

“Okay! OKAY! I’ll talk, I’ll talk, please go easy on me!” Harper shouted. 

Harper exhaled as Matt released her calves and moved back to her feet. He waited while she gathered herself. 

“It was just me and my dad, my mom died when I was young, it was an engineering accident. Nothing sinister, just an accident. My dad was devastated, but he did his best to raise me. I loved him very much. One day he got sick, I was about 14, I stole some medicine for him, they threw me in the skybox, but he did recover, so it was worth it to me. I still had visitation with him, he missed me, but he was alive. I never regretted it,” she finished. 

“We are going to have loosen our restrictions on medicine at some point, while still considering it a finite resource, once we are out, we are out,” Matt sighed. 

“People have a hard time accepting their family members can be cured, but won’t be because of rationing. It's a problem Matt,” Harper whispered. 

Matt moved up to her lower thighs, “Okay, ready to scream into that pillow?” he smiled. 

Harper closed her eyes and buried her head into the pillow. She screamed and contorted , this was the best part of the massage. She came up for air and Matt moved up and sat on her back, massaging her shoulders. 

“Let me bring you in on the rest of the story,” Matt whispered. 

It didn’t take Matt long to bring Harper up to speed, she was literally less than a day behind. He told her about Diane Sydney’s plot, about how she got killed, and the plan for Unity Day and the subsequent Exodus ships.

“That's everything Harper, I still need to work out who is on the first exodus ship with those idiots up there, they seem to think the Council should be first, and they are completely delusional. All we are missing now is what has happened in the camp in the last 12 hours. Which hopefully, doesn’t involve the mass slaughter of our friends by the grounders. I’m up for missing a bit more if you are up for that massage,” Matt smiled. 

“Thank you Matt, for trusting me with all that information. Did you only tell me because there isn’t anything I can do to change it?” Harper teased. 

“No, that wasn’t even on my mind, but now that you mention it, it seems like a nice bonus. Diane Sydney and her rebellion are dead. What can anyone do about it? Nothing is bringing her back. Could you tip someone on the Ark off? Sure, but I’m not worried about it too much, judging by her patsies, her rebellion seemed to be completely dependent on her, and she completely underestimated me. No Harper, I told you because I trust you. You’re in. You, Monty, Miller, Bellamy, and Clarke. My list of friends is growing,” Matt laughed. 

“Monty? What about Raven?” Harper asked. 

“Yeah, Monty figured out something was going on during the Wells murder trial. That kid is brilliant. He pinned us down and forced us to bring him in, but I only told him about the Ark. Harper? He knows nothing about what happened with you and Jason. No one does. And no one will. As for Raven, yeah, she has tremendous potential, to surpass us all honestly, but she is currently dealing with the fact that her boyfriend is a total douchebag that started flirting with Clarke on the way down here, literally, within two minutes of launch, he had forgotten about Raven, and was banging Clarke within what? Three days of being down here? We have to get Raven’s super brain focused on surviving. Any ideas on that front?” Matt asked. 

“Kill Finn?” she suggested. 

“I like where your head is at, but no,” Matt laughed. “The guy brings nothing to the group, but that would put Raven in shutdown mode, and we don’t kill our own people. But I do like the way you think. Oh also, Harper, listen. This is important. No one gets brought in without me and at least one of Bellamy, Clarke, or yourself. Don’t go around my back, I’m still worried about potential assassins,” Matt pressed. 

“So Finn doesn’t know. You are sure Clarke hasn’t told him?” Harper asked. 

“Fairly positive, I threatened to kill him if she told him without my sign off, she got the message. She is trying to convince me I am wrong about him, no progress so far. He did go out to help us bring Octavia back, and almost died doing it, but that wasn’t near enough for me. Miller doesn’t know much either, actually Miller knows nothing. But he has courage, discipline, strength,” Matt finished. 

“Okay Matt, that's enough for now, I want my massage,” she said, rolling off of him, and taking off her bra. Matt sat up and let her lie down on her stomach, and he took her feet into his hands. 

An hour went by, Harper screamed into the pillow a lot, lost control when he hit her thighs, and fainted by the time he finished. He laid down next to her, and dozed off. They slept for at least another hour, and Matt woke to her staring at him. He matched her gaze. 

“These are our last moments, it's time for you to say something amazing to me Matt Kane,” she whispered. 

“How about..This was the best night of my life, Harper. Whose last name I don’t know,” Matt laughed. 

Harper giggled, “Oh my God, you nailed that one. Harper McIntyre.” 

“This was the best night of my life, Harper McIntyre.” Matt finished. 

She nodded. “Yes, I think I can say the same. Now let's go see if all of our friends are dead,” she finished. 

“If that's the case, we might have to reconsider the state of our relationship,” Matt laughed, putting his pants on, looking for his shirt. 

“Not in your life Matt. Looking for your shirt, you don’t have one, remember?” she laughed, as she pulled her clothes on. “Lucky me.”

Matt smiled and put the sword around his back, “Ready?” he asked. 

“Yep,” she replied. 

They went up the ladder, and headed back to camp, not holding hands this time, but walking next to each other with a lot more confidence. 


	21. Unity Day

Day 6

As Matt and Harper approached the camp, Miller spotted them from his lookout position, holding what looked to be a rifle. 

“They are back! Open the gate!” Miller shouted. 

“Was that a gun I saw Miller holding?” Matt asked. 

“I’m not sure, I think so?” Harper whispered. 

They walked in and took stock of the camp. The group had dug up the automobile, and it was holding Prisoner #1. Everyone was working, and everyone was noticeably armed with a rifle. 

“Where did the guns come from?” Matt whispered.

“I don’t know,” Harper whispered back. 

Clarke and Bellamy came running up to them. 

“Hey, welcome back. Wow Matt, um, you look great. Harper, can you uh, go grab Matt a shirt out of the dropship?” Clarke asked. 

“Nah, I think he looks good as is. I think all the girls do,” Harper replied with confidence, as virtually all the girls were indeed looking at Matt. 

“Just bring us up to speed, Harper is in now, she knows everything, it's not like she was far behind, but she is officially at my side. Bellamy you got Miller, and Clarke..you still got nothing. But tell us where the guns came from,” Matt pressed. 

As Clarke started to point out what was undoubtedly Finn, Bellamy cut in. “The Ark told us about an abandoned bunker nearby, blankets, supplies, and barrels of guns and bullets. Here is yours,” he said, handing Matt a rifle. 

Matt took it, ejected the clip, counted his rounds, put the clip back in and handed the rifle to Harper. “Here you go, Gunner Harper. That doesn’t roll off the tongue, but I will work on it. What else guys?” 

Bellamy continued, “There was another assassination attempt on Clarke and I at the bunker, it was Dax, he is dead and buried. Also, Murphy is officially missing, he is not in the camp, we couldn’t find him nearby, presumed dead. No one has even seen him since you confronted him about Octavia. So it's been twp days, I feel bad about it, but there isn’t anything we can do. And, the grounder got away, was freed, something, we don’t know for sure, all we know is he is gone. Don’t eat the nuts by the way, they make you..high? We talked to the Ark, Diane Sydney’s body was floated during the sleep cycle, no one knows yet. Jaha canceled the Unity celebration, and is going to go public after the bomb blows. He wanted you there to help with that.

Lastly, Raven is on fire, she confronted Clarke about sleeping with Finn, and she isn’t talking to anybody. I at least have her going over the bullets we found, seeing if they are good. But that should be your first stop, we need her mind in this. That's all I got,” Bellamy finished. 

“Was that last part really necessary? Finn..” Clarke started. 

“Finn is an asshole, Clarke. He was flirting with you on the dropship down, two minutes after we launched, he had his eyes on you. He had a girlfriend the whole time. Dump him Clarke,” Harper cut in. 

Clarke again started but Matt cut her off this time, “I agree with Harper. He isn’t contributing to the group right now. At the very least, stay away from him . Clarke, take Miller and Harper to the bunker, check for more supplies. Bond. Talk out your differences. Going forward, they are our first go to people. I’ll talk to Raven. Let's move.” 

“Hey Bellamy!” Matt shouted, causing Bellamy to stop and turn. “Have we exhausted all options trying to find Murphy?” 

“We checked the entire surrounding area around the camp, no tracks, nothing. If he got snatched before the storm, he is long gone,” Bellamy sighed. 

Matt shook his head and walked towards Raven’s tent, trying to get into a sympathetic frame of mind. It wasn’t working. He was going to have to try a more direct approach. 

“Coming in! Mecha Station! Whats up?” Matt shouted. 

Raven turned around and did a double take, checking Matt out. “Wow, you look great, um, you have a good night’s sleep?” 

“As a matter of fact I did. It was nice to not have to worry about assassins for once. I wish I could say the same for Clarke and Bellamy though,” Matt observed. 

“I would prefer..to not hear about Clarke, for the remainder of the conversation, if you don’t mind,” Raven remarked. 

“Oh, why is that?” Matt asked. 

Raven gave him a look, “She put the moves on my boyfriend, that's why.”

“Ha!” Matt laughed. “Is that what you think happened? You must really love that guy. You also don’t know Clarke at all, she doesn’t even have moves.” 

Raven stopped and turned from her task and looked straight at Matt, he just looked back at her. “Tell me what happened then, you have been here the whole time,” she challenged. 

Matt scoffed, “As others have observed, Finn was all over Clarke within the first two minutes of our merry adventure. You know that time between an Exodus launch and reentry, where there is no gravity? Spacewalker was out of his seat, introducing himself to guess who? Clarke. Two other kids followed him of course. And then we hit the atmosphere, and those two other kids were dead on impact. Finn survived though, lucky him. We exited the dropship, felt the sun on our faces, and within five minutes, Clarke had a group heading to Mt. Weather for supplies. Bet you can’t guess who was in that group?” 

“Finn,” Raven sighed. 

Matt nodded. “The group failed of course, came back without Jasper, resupplied, left to rescue Jasper, and this time, I had to push Finn into going, but he went. Listen Raven, I’m telling you this because you are the victim here, don’t blame Clarke. Finn was all over her from the jump, and I asked her directly, he never even mentioned you. How was she supposed to know he had a steady girlfriend on the Ark if he didn’t share that with her?” 

Raven changed the subject, “So what's with this you get your own private sleeping quarters? How is that fair to the group?” 

“Because the group is trying to kill us Raven! Lets recap. Night one, a member of the 100 tried to assassinate me, he died. We buried him. Night three, a member of the 100 successfully murdered Wells Jaha, we buried him, locked her up in the automobile out there. Night five, a member of the 100 tried to kill Bellamy and Clarke, they killed him, buried him. We can’t sleep without guards Raven. We have been down here six days now, and I have slept for a total of 27 hours of that. I look great now, sure, but everytime I go to sleep, somebody dies! I don’t plan on sleeping again for at least two days. So don’t try to weasel out of the fact that while you are caught up in your sex life, the rest of us are struggling to survive,” Matt threw his hands in the air. 

There was a long silence. Matt finally broke it, “Listen...”

Raven cut him off, “No. You’re right. You are..right. This is stupid. We have lost eleven people, you have killed five grounders, I didn’t know about the assassins, I’m sorry. That is..wrong. On so many levels. You three are leading us, and I’m getting in the way,” she finished, standing up. 

“SIT the hell down. Whatever you are thinking, the answer is no. You aren’t going anywhere. Now sit.” Matt pointed to the chair. She remained standing.

“You think you can stop me?” she challenged. 

Matt stood and faced her. “Fairly fucking confident,” he retorted. 

She started to stare him down but he quickly extended his arms and shoved her back into her chair, she landed with a grunt and grabbed the table.

“See how easy that was? Now listen, we need you Raven, on a technical level, you are the smartest person in this camp. Forget about Finn. If you want a rebound, Bellamy or Clarke, depending on which way you swing. If you want a massage, I’m your man. But you aren’t leaving, and you aren’t going to drain my energy with this nonsense. Step up, get your shit together so I can bring you into the leadership fold. You don’t even know what is actually going on. The most brilliant mind in the camp is totally clueless. What's wrong with this picture? Until you are ready, finish checking the ammo. I’ll check in on you in a little while,” Matt finished, leaving the tent, hearing her mutter some profanities on his way out. 

Octavia came running up to him. “Hey Matt! Wow um, do you need a shirt?” 

“The consensus from the female contingent of the camp is no. What’s up Octavia? Should I praise you for freeing the grounder?” Matt laughed. 

Octavia grabbed him, “Shhh! Don’t tell anyone,” she whispered. “Thank you for that, by the way. Where are you headed?” 

“To talk to the Ark, actually, I should grab Raven,” Matt stopped and turned around. “Hey Octavia, can you get the Ark set up, I want to talk to Abby Griffin.” Octavia nodded and ran off. 

“Okay change of plans Mecha Station!” he shouted to Raven’s tent. She looked out and glared at him. 

“What is it Matt?” she demanded. 

“We are going to talk to the Ark, together,” Matt offered. 

“Why would I want to talk to the Ark?” she shot back. 

“It will be good for you, come on. Don’t make me carry you,” Matt laughed. 

“You really are an asshole Matt Kane,” she relented, joining him. 

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Matt grinned. 

They walked onto the dropship, and Octavia had set up the video feed, Abby was there waiting. 

“Raven! How are you? And Matt, well, you are looking healthy,” Abby exclaimed. 

“I’m a little out of your age demographic Abby, going to have to ask you to back it down,” Matt laughed, waving at Octavia to go. “Throw me a shirt would ya, Octavia?” he whispered. 

“Abby, I’m good. Its good to see you,” Raven stammered. 

“Alright alright. Listen Abby, how is the Unity Day celebration going?” Matt asked. 

“They called it off, last minute. All the prep work was done, and the Chancellor cancelled it. I’m not on the Council anymore, so I don’t know why,” Abby replied. 

“Oh I know why,” Matt laughed. Raven looked at him curiously. So did Abby. 

“How do you know why and she doesn’t?” Raven asked. 

“Because I am the one that canceled it of course. You are welcome Abby.” Matt was having a good time. “Listen, long story short, there is going to be an explosion in the mess hall today. All of the people at the celebration were supposed to die. Jaha is supposed to go public after it blows. Now, how is the Exodus ship coming along Abby?” 

Abby was in absolute shock, of course. Even Raven couldn’t say anything. Matt whispered to Raven, “This is what you are missing Mecha Station, being part of the leadership team, knowing things. Anytime you want to join, we are waiting.” 

They heard the explosion, and Abby was startled. “Oh there is the bomb,” observed Matt. “Head to the mess hall Abby, I will talk to you later,” he finished. Abby, still in shock, left. He put the shirt on that Octavia had thrown him, and continued. 

“Camp Exodus to Earth Monitoring do you read? I say again, Camp Exodus to Earth Monitoring..” Matt started. 

“We read you Camp Exodus, stand by for the Chancellor.” 

Jaha appeared. “Matt, the explosion just went off in the mess hall, as you predicted. No one was there,” he started. 

“I know, I heard it as I was talking to Abby. She is headed for the mess hall now, Don’t you just love when a plan comes together? I heard you floated a dead body last night?” Matt laughed. 

“Yes, we floated Councilor Sydney’s body, we are going to go public with the news imminently. As soon as you are ready, actually.” 

I figured this is why he wanted my help, he wants me to go public for him, Matt thought to himself. 

“So, you want me to speak to the Ark, from the ground huh? Tell them everything? You sure you want to do that, Chancellor? I can say quite a bit that you might not like,” Matt smiled. 

“I have done some reflecting in the last 24 hours Matt. And Marcus and I came to the realization that you have been right about everything for the past year. And we have been wrong about everything. It's hard for me to admit that, but it's the truth. Were it not for you, we would all be dead by now. Even Raven Reyes there, played a huge role in saving our lives. I’m glad you have added her to your leadership group,” Jaha finished. 

“Well, it’s good that you finally realize that, but you should be crediting my mother. She has been right about everything for years. Alright listen, I need a bit of time to actually prepare a speech, and I want my entire leadership team to be with me during the broadcast, and currently a few of them are out of the camp, checking out that bunker you told us about. How long do you think we have before the entire Ark is demanding answers?” Matt pressed. 

“I can buy you about 30 minutes or so, before they are pounding at the door of Earth Monitoring,” Jaha remarked. “There was supposed to be a Unity Day celebration in the Mess Hall, and the Mess Hall just blew up. It’s not hard to put those two things together.”

“That should work, make sure you have the Exodus Ship locked down, that's the last chess piece on the board. I’m going to work on this speech, I’ll radio back in about 30 minutes or so, Camp Exodus out,” Matt finished. 

Matt signed off and looked at Raven, “Did you know you had been added to my leadership group?” 

“I just found out, actually,” Raven admitted. 

“You with us or not Mecha Station?” Matt pressed. 

Raven took a moment, “I’m in,” she replied confidently. “But I need something from you.” 

Matt sighed, “I’m not going to kill Finn, if that's what you are worried about.”

Raven was taken aback, “What? No, I would never, no. Listen, Finn has been my only family for as long as I can remember. He remembered my birthday, he loved me. And I still love him. So can you just..be nicer about this whole, insane situation with him?” 

Matt sighed again. “Look, I am sympathetic to your situation. I said that in your tent. From now on, I’ll be..more considerate about it. But,” Matt held his hand up, “I am not elevating his position. He is not in my leadership group. He is going to have to climb a mountain to achieve that feat. Are we good?” Matt finished. 

“We are good,” Raven nodded. 

“Good, now go find Bellamy and Monty, bring them back here, I need to write up a stupid speech, we will go when Clarke’s team gets back,” Matt sighed.

“Good luck with that,” Raven muttered as she headed out. 

“Thanks,” Matt sighed.

A few minutes went by, and Matt was writing his speech when Raven and Bellamy came back to see him. 

“Where is Monty?” Matt asked.

“Working on some beverages for us all to drink before your apparent Unity Day speech. How is that going by the way? What are you going to tell them?” Bellamy asked. 

“It's going..slowly. I tend to talk as things come to my mind, so I’ve never read a prepared speech before. I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off to be honest,” Matt threw his hands in the air. 

“Just be yourself. Well no, because you lean more towards being an asshole than a person that inspires..” Raven trailed off. 

“Hey! If I have to be nicer, you have to be nicer, got it Mecha Station?” 

“That’s fair,” Raven laughed. “How about you bring me up to speed on everything that has happened here while we wait on Clarke?”

“How about no. Sorry, supposed to be nicer. I’m tired of telling the story Raven, I’m going public with all of it in a few minutes, you will hear it then. Hope you don’t have any kind of relationship with Diane Sydney,” Matt chuckled. 

“She was building up support among the workers, including Mecha Station, I was probably going to vote for her in the next election,” Raven stammered. 

Matt grinned. “Not anymore,” he laughed. 

“She has a lot of support, I think she is going to be the next Chancellor-” Raven tried. 

“She is dead,” Matt said emphatically, making a motion across his neck. “Gone.” 

Clarke, Harper and Miller came running up the ramp, more guns and ammo in tow. “We found more weapons, more ammo, a lot more ammo, Raven, can you start checking it?” Clarke panted. 

No one moved. “Whats going on?” Harper asked. 

“Apparently Diane Sydney is dead,” Raven said, still surprised. 

“Yeah, we know. Raven? The ammo..” Clarke started. 

“I’ll check it Clarke, after Matt’s speech,” Raven waved her off.

“What speech?” Clarke asked, looking at Matt. 

Matt sighed. “We have to get better at communicating with each other guys. Obviously, Raven is being slowly brought in, but the rest of us are on the same page with current events. Chancellor Jaha has asked me to make a Unity Day speech, it seems like the Ark Council has finally realized its role as a transition group. I want the whole leadership team there, so Bellamy, Clarke, Harper, Raven, Monty, who is brewing us some drinks, and Miller. I realize Miller and Raven haven’t fully been brought up to speed, but I’m going public with all the details in my speech. Now listen, the Ark is talking to me like I am in charge down here, but I still view Bellamy, Clarke and I as joint leaders. I’m not looking for the crown. We need...we need to build a better society, but also a different kind of society, using the Ark as a blueprint, not a mandate,” Matt finished. 

There was a moment of silence, “Well if that kind of talk is going to be in your speech I’d say you are on your way to the crown,” Raven admitted. 

“Does anyone else have anything pressing to report? Any sign of Murphy?” Matt asked. 

“I was just going to tell Raven that Matt gives really good massages, you know, an olive branch,” Clarke teased. 

“Thats fine, I offered her you and Bellamy for comfort sex earlier, so, whatever you need Raven,” Mat laughed. 

Raven rolled her eyes, “Okay I am back to hating you all, let's just get this done!” 

“Right, set up the video feed outside, and check on Monty,” Matt waved them out. 

Monty had indeed emerged from a tent, with Jasper, who was celebrating excitedly at the idea of moonshine. Unity Juice, they declared it. As they went around the camp, pouring a cup for everyone, Raven hooked up the video monitor in the center of camp, so Matt and the new Council would have the woods as a backdrop. Morale was finally trending up, and Matt was relieved. He didn’t even want to think about the fact that they were facing a likely grounder attack within the next few days. 

“Okay, we are about to talk to the Ark, instead of the Chancellor making a speech, it's going to be me, please, hold your boo’s until after it's over. A lot has happened on the Ark, and in this camp, that many of you don’t know about. So its going to be very informative. And hopefully, put a lot of issues to rest,” Matt sighed. 

The group came together, enjoying their drinks, as Matt took his position with the rest of the Council. 

“Monty, you are over here with us!” Bellamy shouted. Monty emerged and stood next to Harper, they were eyeing each other. 

“Alright, make the call Raven,” Matt instructed. 

Raven connected with the Ark, and Chancellor Jaha appeared. “Matt, are you about ready?” 

“Sir? Are you sure this is a good idea? He is going to be addressing the entire Ark.” Kane’s voice came through.

“Have faith in your son, Marcus,” Jaha finished. “Is there anything you need from me before we put you on, Matt?” 

“Just a couple of things Chancellor, how long ago did we come down here? It's been..hectic to say the least, I’ve lost track of time,” Matt asked. 

“You have been down there for seven days now, Matt. What else?” Jaha responded. 

Seven? Did I lose a day? Matt wondered to himself.

“What was the name of that other idiot of Sydney’s that I beheaded before coming down here?” Matt asked. 

“His name was Robert Perez. Anything else?” Jaha asked. 

“Just one more thing. You were planning a population reduction, weren’t you? You canceled it I’m sure, but it was voted on, and confirmed by the Council, right?” Matt pressed. 

Chancellor Jaha sighed, “Yes Matt, that's right. Thanks to the efforts of others, we canceled it.” 

“Okay, I’m ready, put me on,” Matt finished. 

Clarke grabbed his arm, “You’ve got this.”

Matt nodded, and started his speech:

“People of the Ark, my name is Matt Kane, and I am joining you on this very special Unity Day from Camp Exodus, on Planet Earth. Yes, as you can see behind me, I, along with 102 other people, arm on the ground. Which means that the Earth is survivable for all of us. This is undoubtedly a surprise for most of you, but I can confirm seven days ago, 101 people were sent to the ground to reduce oxygen consumption and buy the Ark more time. 

Some of you might be aware that the Ark’s oxygen system is failing. Some of you might even be aware that you don’t have much time left. Last week, we were sent down in an act of desperation to not only extend your lives, but to see if the Earth was survivable for our people. I am happy to report that it is. We can survive down here, and soon, you all will join us. 

But before that day comes, I need to speak to you about some things that were happening, and just finished happening, on the Ark where you live. Your home for all these years. A rebellion was brewing, people were gathering the strength to rise up, and start a war with the current leadership group. This rebellion even tried to recruit me to their cause, a fatal mistake on their part. 

Initially, I agreed to join these rebels. I used them to obtain the information I needed, I even gave them a plan to stage their coup, but what I was really after, was the name of their leader. Upon obtaining this information, I betrayed these so called rebels, and killed two of them myself, right before jumping on the dropship to come down to Earth. So, on that note, I have a message to the remaining rebels that blew up the bomb in the mess hall today, killing none of their targets:

Your leader, Diane Sydney, is dead. She was floated yesterday, after I exposed her treacherous crimes to the Council. She was planning on using the population reduction to stir dissent and murder the Chancellor, the Council, children, religious leaders, doctors, and other innocents. She failed. You failed. The biggest mistake you rebels made, was thinking you were smarter than me. Planning to kill me as soon as I did your dirty work. 

Which leads me to my message for the remaining assassins in Camp Exodus, you were recruited by Shumway, who is also dead, I cut his throat seven days ago. Whatever he promised you, he isn’t delivering. But that doesn’t mean the cause is lost for the people that had joined Diane Sydney, Lt. Shumway, and Robert Perez. Whatever she was promising, I can assure you, I can give you more. I can give you the ground. Every person on the Ark, will come down to the ground. And that day will happen very soon. 

Now, I am sure all of you are so excited to come down to the ground. I am sure there are others that are planning out who they believe should come first, who is entitled to come down first, who has earned the right to come down first. And, ordinarily, I would be happy to listen to you all. However, those are not the right questions. The question is, who needs to come down first? Which leads me to my next piece of news. 

We are not alone here. There is, by my estimation, a civilization of survivors that have been living here since the bombs fell 97 years ago. How is this possible? I don’t know myself, but that is the reality. There are people here, we call them grounders, and they are hostile to us. We have lost 11 of our people so far, including the Chancellor’s own son, Wells Jaha. So the question is not who should come down, but rather who we need to come down. 

We need help. We are completely surrounded, and I estimate the grounders will launch a full scale attack on our camp within the week. All attempts to open a dialogue with them have failed. The only good news is, all technology from the 21 st century appears to have been lost on the ground. This civilization uses swords, spears, and other hand to hand weapons to fight us with. Which means our guards can level the playing field. 

Regardless of who is on the first dropship down, or the second, or the third, my message to you all is simple. Be prepared to fight. Our landing was a surprise to them, yours will not be. You are not coming down to a peaceful situation, and while you will try to land close to us, there will be some distance between us, and I cannot guarantee we will be able to get to you before the grounders. So every dropship must be ready to fight. 

People of the Ark, so much has happened in the last week, and we all have even more work to do. But I can assure you, we will be together soon. I have solved the problem of Project Exodus, and look forward to reuniting with you. And I promise you this, we are not just going to survive down here, we are not just going to live down here, we are going to THRIVE, together, on the ground. May we meet again. 

Matt made a motion to cut the live feed and Marcus Kane appeared on the video feed, 

“Congratulations son, that was..an amazing speech,” Kane admitted. 

“Well thanks Kane. Is the Chancellor there?” Matt asked, sipping some Unity Juice. 

“I’m here Matt, please tell me you were telling the truth when you solved Project Exodus,” Jaha urged. 

“Of course, it's relatively simple. After you launch all of your exodus ships, all of your escape pods, whoever is left will have to crash the Ark to the ground. It will separate into the original 12 stations, and your chances of surviving won’t be high, but they won’t be zero either,” Matt finished. 

“That's...insane Matt,” Kane cut in. 

“Psst, hey Raven, can you turn the camera to our sign?” Matt whispered. 

Raven turned the camera: Camp Exodus. Welcome to the Insanity. 

“It could..work,” Jaha admitted. 

“Or it could not, but the good news is the people that have to make the trip will have time to think about it. The reduced population should buy them a few months, and they will still be able to communicate with us,” Matt shrugged. “It's the only way down for them. Now I need to run, going to enjoy this Unity Day celebration before the next challenger appears. Oh, one last thing, put Abby back on the Council!” Matt shouted, signing off. 

“Lets go have some fun guys, Bellamy and I will handle security. Happy Unity Day!” Matt laughed. 


	22. Peace Talks

Day 7

The party was still going strong as Matt and Bellamy stood on the edge of the camp, keeping an eye out for any trouble. Matt spotted Harper laughing with Monty and Jasper, but couldn’t see Raven or Finn anywhere. Or Octavia. He was a little concerned about Octavia, but he didn’t want to worry Bellamy. Clarke was approaching them, and Matt decided to take a lap around the camp. 

“Good luck with the Princess man,” he chuckled. 

“Thanks a lot,” Bellamy laughed. 

Matt was scooting away when Clarke shouted at him, “Hey Matt!” 

He stopped and turned. 

“That was a really great speech,” she smiled. 

“Thanks Clarke,” he smiled and hustled away. He still liked Clarke, but he did not want any part of that love triangle the whole camp knew about by this time. He surveyed the scene, everyone was having a good time. Seems like they had finally gotten a normal day. He spotted Finn moving through the crowd, no Raven though. He didn’t give it a second thought. 

As he moved around the perimeter he couldn’t help but see Finn making some kind of case to Clarke, and decided to seek out Raven instead. But again, he spotted Clarke waving at him, clearly trying to get his attention. She was heading towards Bellamy and was motioning for him to join them. 

Just great, Matt sighed.

He slowly approached the two of them as Bellamy was scowling. He braced for the bad news. “Whats going on?” Matt sighed. 

“Spacewalker is turning into a Peacemaker now, he has set up a meeting with the grounders, wants Clarke to join him without you or your sword. Clarke wants me on backup duty with guns, without telling Finn. 

“I have so many questions and I don’t want to ask any of them. I’m going with Clarke. Grab some more ammo, Harper and Miller. If Harper isn’t up for it, Raven. Let's move,” Matt lamented. 

They started out, Matt tried to cheer himself up by figuring he would take his annoyance out on Finn and enjoy it. It worked. He was grinning by the time they caught up with the Spacewalker. 

“Who invited you?” Finn demanded of Matt. 

“Clarke. Listen Finn, I know you thought you were being cute when you tried to go around the backs of two-thirds of our leadership group, but you failed. You are still an idiot, and I’m still in charge. Now let's move, or let's just call the whole thing off and get back to the party. Either one is fine with me,” Matt laughed. 

That wasn’t exactly true, Matt was actually very open to the idea of opening a dialogue with the grounders, but Finn didn’t need to know that. 

“You can’t take your sword!” Finn shouted. 

“I am taking my sword Spacewalker, now let’s go,” Matt laughed. 

They started out, Finn was visibly upset, Matt didn’t care, and Clarke didn’t seem to either. She was leaving a trail of crumbs for the backup to follow, Finn was either too upset, or too stupid, or both, to notice. They came to a bridge that looked like it was from the bombed out civilization, and found Octavia waiting. 

“You helped him escape!” Clarke exclaimed. 

Octavia shrugged and motioned to Matt, “It was sanctioned. Come on.” 

Clarke looked at Matt who also shrugged. “It was either that or an execution Clarke, I wasn’t feeling that, and I don’t think you would have been willing to do it yourself either.”

Clarke sighed and spotted the former grounder prisoner approaching them, they also spotted their backup moving into position. Octavia ran out to meet him, giving him a hug. 

The grounder approached them, saw Matt’s sword and started to say something but Matt held up his hand, “What's your name?” 

“Lincoln,’ the grounder responded. 

“So you speak English, you have tremendous physical strength to resist that torture without saying a word, despite your ability to understand us,” Matt observed. 

“We said no weapons,” Lincoln said. 

“And you think your people will honor that?” Matt smiled. 

Lincoln remained silent. 

“I don’t either, so let's see what happens,” Matt finished. 

They heard sounds approaching, and were shocked to see grounders on horses approaching, a woman in the middle, flanked by two riders with bows. 

“Oh my God, horses!” Clarke gasped. 

Matt and Clarke started forward, Finn tried to follow but Lincoln stopped him, “Only the leaders will talk,” he whispered. 

The woman dismounted, and came forward, seemingly unbothered by the fact Matt was wearing a sword on his back. She spoke English as well. 

“You are Matt. And you are Clarke,” she said. “I’m Anya.” 

Clarke extended her hand, while Matt remained still. Anya completely ignored Clarke’s hand, perhaps not understanding the gesture, but more likely not caring. 

Anya looked at Matt, “You wear your sword with confidence, you are the warchief of your clan, yes? And Clarke is your balance.”

“That's an accurate observation,” Matt replied. 

“And you wish to end this war you started with us?” Anya asked. 

“How did we start this war?” Clarke asked. 

“You landed in our territory, you are invaders,” replied Anya. 

“We did land in your territory, needing help. We didn’t know anyone was here, and yet on our first day, you speared one of our people in the chest. You drew first blood, or do you disagree with that fact, Anya?” Matt challenged. 

Anya remained silent and stared at Matt for a moment, he matched her gaze. “You say you didn’t know we were here, yet you sent an armed unit into our territory to capture and torture one of our people,” she countered.

“To rescue one of our people that you captured and tortured,” Matt replied. 

Anya was silent again. Matt had the upper hand at the moment, and he pressed forward. 

“Are you the leader of all of your people, Anya? Can I forge a peace with you and have all of your people honor it?” Matt pressed. 

Anya remained silent even longer, which told Matt volumes. 

“You aren't, are you? Why are you here then? Why would I agree to a peace deal, only to have your people turn around and break it?” Matt challenged again. 

“I can...forge a truce with you for the moment..and present it to our leaders,” Anya offered. 

“And if they don’t accept it? You will come attack us? Where is the honor in that?” Clarke pressed. 

Anya remained silent, Clarke had clearly struck a nerve. 

“Do not talk to me about honor-” she started, but Matt cut her off.

“Do not think to accuse us of being dishonorable Anya. I have given you no cause to do so,” Matt finished. 

Anya was silent again, and all of a sudden, shots rang out from behind them, killing a grounder in the trees. 

“HOLD YOUR FIRE!!!” Matt screamed, to no avail, as the shots kept coming, and arrows started to fly around them. 

“Run Clarke! Damnit!” Matt grabbed her and ran. Finn was coming forward to them, for whatever reason, as the bullets and arrows kept flying all around them. Finn was struck in the shoulder by an arrow, and went down. Lincoln was also hit, protecting Octavia. Matt really didn’t want to, but he grabbed Finn and pulled him to his feet. 

“Move your ass, Spacewalker,” Matt grunted. They got to the cover of the treeline and fell back to the camp. Arriving there, Matt was the one that was visibly upset this time. 

“Who fucking fired?” he demanded, drawing his sword. 

Bellamy, Raven, and Miller were catching their breath, all looking at Jasper. 

“I saw them aiming their bows at you guys, they were going to shoot you!” Jasper exclaimed. 

Matt was furious. Looking at Bellamy, “What the fuck was he doing there? Did I say bring Jasper??” 

Bellamy shook his head. “I didn’t bring Jasper.” 

Matt looked at Jasper, sword in hand, waiting for an explanation.

Jasper stammered, “I just wanted to be part of the crew of badasses, so I followed you guys..” 

“What the fucking hell. Do not speak! Nobody talk! I had that woman cornered, I had a truce in my fucking hands, and this fucking idiot ruined it all! Fucking. Unbelievable!” Matt screamed, storming away. “Fucking kids!!” 

“In case you didn’t know Jasper, you ruined everything!” Octavia yelled at him. 

“Oh my God Finn, your shoulder,” Raven said, as Matt moved out of earshot. He didn’t care. 

Matt walked up the dropship ramp, walked over to the lever, and closed the door. He wanted to be alone. Kicking a chair out of his way, and pounding the table with his fists. He hadn’t been this angry since Kane floated his mom, which thinking of that just made him scream some more. 

“SHIT!!” he yelled to the dropship walls that did not respond. 

He stood the chair back up, sat down in it, stood up and kicked it over again. Standing up, he called the Ark. 

“Camp Exodus calling Ark Station! Come in GODDAMN IT!” 

Matt started to pace. 

“This is Earth Monitoring, um, we read you Camp Exodus, go ahead. 

“Is the Chancellor available??”  Matt demanded. 

“He is asleep at the moment, if you want to call back..”

“WAKE HIM UP! RIGHT NOW! This is an emergency, and I need to talk to him. Right. Fucking. Now. GO!”  Matt exclaimed. If he got any backtalk he was probably going to explode. Because he had not just exploded. Fortunately he didn’t get any feedback. About 10 minutes passed, and Matt was still fuming when the Chancellor activated the video feed. 

“Matt, I understand this is part of the job, what can I do for you?” Jaha asked. 

Jaha’s diplomacy actually made Matt feel better, for once. 

“Thanks for understanding. We have an emergency situation. I wanted to talk about this tomorrow, but we need to discuss the first exodus ship now. Our need of the guard reinforcements has reached a critical level after tonight’s developments,” Matt fumed. 

“I can see you're visibly upset, that's unlike you Matt. Why don’t you tell me what happened so we can move forward?” Jaha pressed. 

“Tonight, just a few moments ago, we were successful in opening a dialogue with the grounders. We were moving towards a truce when..when..” Matt let out a deep sigh. “When one of our people, who was not authorized by anyone to be there, opened fire on the contingent. Everyone fled, we had two wounded, and their side had multiple deaths. I fear that a truce is no longer possible, and we are under imminent threat of an all out attack,” Matt finished. 

Jaha sighed, “I’m truly sorry that happened Matt. It's remarkable that you were able to open a dialogue, and to see it slip away like that, I understand your frustration. We can launch the exodus ship in about seven hours, do you think you can buy some time until they get there?”

“No, but thats why I have a leadership team. We will crowdsource it. In the meantime, I know people have aspirations about being the first ones down, but it's no longer a theory, they will be landing in an active warzone. We need soldiers, send Kane’s second in command, whoever it is. Don’t send Abby, send Jackson. Send your lieutenants, is what I’m saying. I don’t want essential people landing in a warzone. I don’t want families, or children, or anything like that,” Matt sighed. 

“I understand Matt, we will send the appropriate people. Do whatever you have to do to survive until the reinforcements get there. Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?” Jaha asked. 

“No, that is all Chancellor. I have to go..deal with this problem,” Matt sighed. 

“Matt, you are doing an extraordinary job, I know you and your team will overcome this setback. Just believe in yourselves. Jaha out.” 

Matt sighed, the man could be inspirational when he wanted to be. He walked over to the door and lowered the ramp. 

“Okay! Bring it in! I know you are all drunk on Unity Juice, or your own fucking stupidity. But if you can stand, bring it in close! Come on!” Matt shouted. 

The group slowly gathered around. They could tell Matt was upset, and no one wanted to be the subject of his ire. Only about half the group made it. He didn’t see half his leadership team, but Harper and Monty were there, Bellamy and Miller walked up as well. Jasper was nowhere in sight, luckily for him. Matt motioned to Bellamy to join him and as he approached, he asked about Finn. 

“He took an arrow to the shoulder, Clarke got it out, administered the antidote, he will live. But he is out of action for a day, at least. Raven is with him. Jasper is..”

Matt cut him off, “I don’t care about Jasper. Everyone else is unharmed?” 

Bellamy nodded. 

“I’m gonna update the group then I need the entire leadership team, Raven and Clarke included, assembled in the dropship. Go get them, you don’t need to hear any of this because you already know it,” Matt finished. 

As Bellamy stomped off, Matt started. “Okay, so, shit just hit the fan folks. Tonight, Clarke and I engaged in peace talks with the grounders. Yes, they speak English, and we were getting through to them. But the talks failed. Horribly. And now a grounder attack is imminent. I have radioed the Ark and they are sending reinforcements in about seven hours, assume the next twelve hours we are on our own. Everyone has to sober up and get ready to fight. Wake up your friends and get them moving. Then everyone on the walls. Do not fire your guns until a leader tells you to. We have no idea what kind of attack is coming, but it is coming. Sorry to ruin your Unity Day celebration guys. Okay, that is all, move out,” Matt waved them off. 

Clarke, Bellamy, and Raven were approaching, and Monty and Harper were coming as well. He looked around for Miller and saw him running up. They all headed into the dropship together. 

Sitting down around the radio, they took a moment to collect themselves. 

Monty broke the silence, “Before we get started, I just want to say I’m sorry about Jasper, he feels terrible. He got jealous that I got to stand with the leadership group during the speech, which was amazing by the way, and wanted to prove himself. Obviously, he failed. And now we are all probably going to die,” he finished. 

“Yep, that's about the size of it. Bellamy, take the lead on this one,” Matt sighed. 

“You said the dropship window was seven hours from now, I don’t think the situation is as urgent as it seems. We can probably hold out for that long without the grounders attacking, but we shouldn’t take any chances,” Bellamy started. 

“Wait, why don’t you think they will attack?” Harper asked. 

“Simple. The guns. If there was anything good that came from Jasper’s stupidity, it's that we sent a message that we have guns. He killed at least two of their people, and I killed another one. That should give them enough reason to hesitate. Unfortunately, the likely result will be they will hit us with everything they have, trying to overwhelm us. But, I believe we have some time,” Bellamy finished. 

“Let's say Bellamy is wrong, how can we create more time for ourselves?” Matt asked. 

“The bridge,” Clarke said. “That bridge is the only way across that gorge that we saw, if we can disable it, we can slow them down.”

“Blow the bridge, take out as many grounders as possible, I like it. How do we do it?” Bellamy asked. 

“Wait, we shouldn’t try to kill the grounders, we should just blow it,” Clarke said. “Peace is still possible.”

“If we go out there and blow the bridge right now, they will just find a way to attack us from another direction. Blow it while they are crossing it, stop the attack cold,” Miller retorted. 

“I agree with Miller, these people are resourceful, and while I’m not opposed to more truce talks, how do we even start them? No way Anya is trusting us again. No, blow the bridge to stop their attack, kill as many as we can,” Matt interjected. 

“Have we thought about how exactly we are going to blow up a bridge people?” Monty demanded. 

“Not one bit. That's why Mecha Station is here,” Matt deadpanned. 

Raven smiled. “I’ve got this.”

“That bridge has survived a nuclear apocalypse and 100 years of winter, what makes you think your plan will work?” Bellamy demanded. 

Raven kept smiling, “It won’t survive me.”

“Get to work Raven, let us know if you need any help. And someone bring Jasper to me,” Matt waved them out. 

Monty remained as the others headed out. Matt waited with him for Jasper, who came up the ramp, sheepishly. 

“Jasper! You want to start redeeming yourself for your fucked up actions that made our situation impossibly harder and will probably result in more death?” Matt demanded. 

“Uh, sure,” Jasper sighed. 

“That was harsh,” Monty observed. 

“Indeed. Listen Jasper, Raven is working on a project, continue to check the ammo in her tent, and if she needs any help with her bomb, that's you. You have my permission to blow yourself up as long as you don’t take Raven with you. That's it,” Matt waved him out. 

“That was also harsh,” Monty finished, as he headed out with Jasper. 

Harper came back up the ramp. “The sun is going down, it's time for you to sleep,” she pushed. 

“What? No, I’m fine, I slept yesterday with you, remember?” Matt stammered. 

“Yes, I remember. But you have to sleep more than once every 48 hours, and this is the perfect time. Raven is working on her bomb, Miller and I are on lookout duty at each gate, Clarke is resting with Finn, Monty is working on his own project, and Bellamy can handle security. You don’t have anything to do, except go to bed,” Harper pressed. 

Matt sighed, she had him. “Where do you think I should sleep?” 

“Upstairs, there is already a sleeping bag and a pillow. I don’t think there will be any more assassination attempts, but just in case, Monty is going to work on his project down here on the first level, so you will be safe. Do you want me to escort you?” Harper finished. 

“Uh, sure, you can escort me,” Matt stood up. 

“I was being rhetorical, Matt. I’m not escorting you, go to bed, I’ve got my post to get back to,” Harper laughed. 

Matt smiled and headed up the ladder. This was a good idea. He paused to look back at Harper. “Thanks Harper.”

Harper smiled, “This my job Matt, to look out for you. I’m your right hand girl.”

“Right. Thanks Lieutenant Harper,” Matt laughed. 

“Captain Harper,” she corrected him. 

“Uh sure, Captain Harper,” Matt replied. 

“Whatever the hell we want, right?” Harper laughed. 

“Yeah, okay, good night Captain,” Matt finished, closing the hatch behind him. He took off his shirt and draped it over a chair, and tried not to think about how much he wanted Jasper to blow himself up. This was the closest thing to normal he had gotten to, as he laid down in the sleeping bag, falling asleep almost immediately. 


	23. The Virus

Day 8

Matt woke up, feeling refreshed. He stood and put his shirt back on, wondering how many shirts they had left exactly, opened the hatch and headed down the ladder. Monty was there, working on some equipment. 

“Hey,” Matt greeted him. 

“Hey,” Monty responded. 

“How long was I out?” Matt asked. 

“About five and a half hours. Everything is quiet, you will be disappointed to hear that Jasper did not blow himself up,” Monty said sarcastically. 

“That is disappointing. What are you working on over there?” Matt asked. 

“Short wave radios, it was Raven’s idea, she is off working on the bomb and ammo, we can’t fully utilize them without taking apart the radio, which, doesn’t really work,” Monty lamented. 

“At all. Communication with the Ark is crucial for the next few days at least, way more important than us being able to communicate down here. Do not do anything to jeopardize that. I’m going to make some rounds, you are doing great work Monty, but remember what I said,” Matt finished, heading down the ramp. 

“Got it,” Monty responded. 

Matt surveyed the camp, everyone seemed to be nervous about the impending grounder attack, most of the group was on the wall, but there were some others on the meat line, keeping the fire going, conversing with each other. He figured the people he didn’t see were sleeping, at least that's what he hoped. He decided to check on Raven first, she had the most important task, and he wanted to make sure she was holding up okay in regards to Finn. 

Approaching her tent, “Coming in! What's up Mecha Station, hope you didn’t blow yourself to hell!” 

“Hey Matt! How did you sleep?” Raven asked. 

“Good actually. Turns out I feel better when I sleep every 24 hours, instead of every 48,” Matt admitted. “How are things going here?”

“Good, there is the bomb,” she replied, pointing to a can nonchalantly. 

“Not gonna blow up randomly, right?” Matt asked. 

“I’d say the chances are 50-50,” Raven smiled.

“50-50? Really? I’m gonna need you to improve those odds,” Matt said, seriously. 

“Relax dummy. It needs an accelerant, gunpowder. I used hydrazine from the dropship,” Raven laughed. 

“Hydrazine?” Matt asked, taking a step back. 

Raven looked at him, “One step is not gonna save your life Matt, it's gonna be a big boom. Like I said though, it needs an accelerant. You’re perfectly safe. For the most part,” she said, smiling. 

Matt sighed. “Staying on this topic, how much hydrazine is down there?” 

Raven looked at him, “A ton of it Matt. They filled the tanks before you came down. It could be useful if we use it properly. The wiring is a mess though.”

Matt nodded, “What are you working on now?” 

“The ammo, we have a lot of it, with a lot of extra gunpowder, I’m thinking we can use landmines and grenades. Jasper really helped, he is sleeping now, he didn’t say much, he feels bad about what happened. Maybe you should talk to him?” Raven suggested.

“I’m saving my words of encouragement for someone a little more important. I need you to add this to your list of things to do, fix the wiring underneath the dropship, so we can blast off if necessary. If you need help recruit whoever you want. Got it?” 

“Going somewhere Matt?” Raven looked at him. 

“It's a last resort, but yeah. Now, how are you doing Raven?” Matt pressed. 

Raven looked surprised, “I’m good,” she nodded. 

Matt stared at her, continuing to wait for a more honest answer. 

Raven sighed, “Finn took an arrow to the shoulder, and Clarke is all over him, and it bums me out.”

Matt nodded, “You are gonna help save us all Raven, then you can kill Finn. If you think killing Finn first would help you save us all, I will keep Clarke out of your way,” he finished. 

Raven just stared at him, before asking, “Were those your words of encouragement?”

“Yep, how did I do?” Matt asked. 

Raven stared a little longer, “I think you need to work on it,” she deadpanned. 

“Noted! Okay, is there anything else you got for me, or anything else you need before I head out?” Matt finished. 

Raven shook her head, “I appreciate you checking up on me Matt, I’ll be okay. I’m going to get back to the ammo.”

“Let me know if you change your mind,” Matt said, turning to leave, before stopping, “Have you considered a threesome with Finn and Clarke?” 

“GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!” Raven yelled, throwing a shell casing at him as he scooted away. 

“Alright! Who is next?” Matt said to himself as he escaped Raven’s wrath. He spotted Harper on the lookout post closest to him, so he headed her way.

“Yo! Captain Harper! How is the watch going?” Matt shouted. 

“All clear Matt! No movement. How did you sleep?” Harper asked. 

“Good, thank you for making me sleep,” Matt admitted. 

“I told you it's my job Matt. Making the rounds?” Harper asked. 

“Yeah, just came from Raven, she is doing good, well as good as she can be. You got anything for me?” 

Harper shook her head, “Nope, all good here,” Harper finished. 

“Make sure you get some rest soon, okay?” Matt finished, turning away. 

“Roger that,” Harper replied. 

Matt was heading for Clarke’s tent as a young girl handed him a slab of freshly cooked meat, he took it with gratitude and chewed on it. 

He arrived at Clarke’s tent still chewing on the meat, “Coming in Clarke! How are things going here?” 

Clarke and Finn were lying on some blankets, Finn’s shoulder and side were bandaged, Clarke at least had her clothes on. “Hey Matt! We are just resting, how did you sleep?” Clarke asked. 

“Good. How is Finn?” 

“I’m fine thanks for asking,” Finn answered. “What are you making rounds or something?” 

“Yep, good job figuring that out. You got anything for me Clarke?” Matt asked her, completely ignoring Finn. 

“The dropship with the guard should be landing about an hour from now, do we have a plan to rendezvous with it?” Clarke asked. 

“I’m going to work that out with Bellamy in a little bit, it will probably be him and I, with Miller, Harper, a couple of other volunteers,” Matt said, finishing his slab of meat. 

“I want to go to Matt,” Clarke pressed. 

“I know you do, but listen Clarke, it's not about excluding you. We have to follow the rule of three, okay? Two leaders go out, one stays in at all times. There always has to be a leader in the camp. And we might have to fight our way to the guard. Bellamy, Miller and I have that experience. It's better that you are the one that remains,” Matt finished. 

Clarke sighed, “You are right Matt. Okay.” 

“I’m still not entirely sure how the leadership group even formed,” Finn tried to cut in. 

“So what? All that matters is it exists and you aren’t part of it, Finn. You might have played a part in setting up those peace talks, but you tried to exclude Bellamy and I, and don’t think I have forgotten that. When this is all over Raven is going to kill you anyway for cheating on her within the first five minutes of coming down here. If you want to extend your life expectancy I would encourage you to just not talk. Ever. You got anything else for me Clarke?” 

Clarke shook her head, “No Matt, thanks for checking in.”

Matt left, shaking his head. He had never really started, but he was officially done with Finn. The guy was a scumbag, as far as he was concerned.

His next target was Miller, who was standing in his lookout post at the gate. 

“Yo Miller! How we doing?” Matt shouted.

“All clear Matt! How did you sleep?” Miller asked. 

“Good, thanks for asking. Listen, we might have a mission coming up soon, I need you to get some rest, okay?” Matt pressed. 

“Copy that!” Miller finished. 

His last target was Bellamy, but he spotted Octavia staring at a tree with a flower on it. Figuring that was code from Lincoln, he intercepted her. 

“Hey Octavia!” Mat whispered. 

Octavia whirled around in surprise. “Hey Matt! Uh, whats up? What's going on?” she tried. 

“Cut the act Octavia I know you are off to see Lincoln your grounder friend,” Matt cut her off. 

“What are you talking about?” Octavia kept trying. 

Matt pointed at the flower. “I’m not a botanist, but I know flowers don’t grow on tree trunks, it was placed there. And since you are staring at it so intently, I’d appreciate it if you dropped the act. I’m not Bellamy, remember who let you get the grounder out of there.” 

Octavia sighed and said nothing. 

“Look, can you just do me a favor, and get some basic intel, like how many of his people there really are? That's all I’m asking, one number. Okay?” Matt pressed. 

Octavia looked surprised, “You are letting me go?” 

Matt sighed. He just ignored her and continued on his rounds, as if she wasn’t even there, and the conversation never took place. He wasn’t worried about her betraying them, not yet at least. Sibling bonds are stronger than that, he hoped.

He spotted Bellamy with his rifle, surveying the camp. “Hey Bellamy, how's it going?” 

“Good. Everyone is working, except Finn and Clarke, but that means he can’t come up with anymore stupid plans. So I’ll take it. Also, I’m continuing to take care of Charlotte. I know you have been too busy to do that, it's not a big deal,” Bellamy replied. 

“Wow yeah, thanks for that man, I have had no time for it. However you are handling it, when I finally have time, we will follow your model. Now, you want to discuss the mission to rendezvous with the dropship guard? I figure you, me, Miller, Harper, maybe a couple of volunteers..” Matt trailed off as a sonic boom broke in the sky, causing the whole camp to look up. They spotted the vapor trail rocketing across the horizon towards them, but not close enough. 

“They are a little early..” Matt whispered. 

They could barely make out the silhouette of the dropship as it fell towards the ground, eventually spotting the parachutes deploying, but way too far away. 

“Holy shit, they missed us by...” Matt whispered. 

“Hundreds of miles,” Bellamy finished for him. 

Matt scoffed, “Well forget the rendezvous mission, we are never going to see them again.” 

Bellamy nodded, “We need to make contact with the Ark, right now.” 

“Agreed.” Matt and Bellamy headed for the dropship ramp, yelling at Monty to make contact with Earth Monitoring. Monty got the Chancellor on the line. 

“Chancellor Jaha, what is happening? The exodus ship launched an hour before the window opened, and they missed us by hundreds of miles!” Matt exclaimed. 

“We are seeing that now Matt, we believe the pilot got excited and decoupled the ship on accident, thank goodness he at least did that correctly, but it does appear as if they did not land anywhere near Camp Exodus,” Jaha informed them. 

Matt sighed, “Can you get another ship ready to go in time for this launch window?” 

“Unfortunately no Matt, it takes days to charge the batteries without draining the Ark’s power. I’m afraid we are looking at no less than 48 hours until we can launch again,” Jaha sighed. 

“We will all be dead by then,” Bellamy deadpanned. 

“Maybe, maybe not. Listen Chancellor, I need you to do everything in your power to speed up that timeline. You said you can’t charge the batteries without draining the Ark’s power, I’m sure you can cut corners, sacrifice some power for a faster charge. We have already bought ourselves a day, we might be able to buy another one, but we need help within the next 24 hours. Can you do that?” Matt pressed.

“We will do everything we can to make the next launch window Matt. In the meantime, we will try to make contact with the second dropship, do you know how far away they landed from Camp Exodus Sinclair?” 

“Looks like an estimated 350 miles to the south, Chancellor,” Sinclair said from the background. 

“Who was on the ship Chancellor? Any family members of the people down here?” Bellamy asked. 

“It was mostly guards, Dr. Jackson, Sergeant Miller, Nathan Miller’s father, a few other kid’s families, I’ll get you their names soon, some engineers. People that could help you defend and build up your camp,” Jaha finished. 

“Well, linking up with them is impossible at this time, if you make contact, just tell them to focus on surviving in their own camp. Because they are weeks away from us, through uncharted territory. It's not worth it for them to try to make it here. We will try to figure out a way to do that with the subsequent dropships, if you land in between them and us, it might be possible to form a chain. But I’ll leave that to you Chancellor. For now, just notify me if you make contact. Camp Exodus out.” Matt finished and let out a deep sigh. 

“So much for reinforcements,” Bellamy stated. 

“Yep, thats out. Better tell the group, come on,” Matt sighed. 

Walking down the ramp, “Okay! Bring it in! Everybody up! Miller! I need you over here! Let’s go!” Matt shouted. 

The group gathered round, Miller walking up from his lookout spot, Raven coming up to stand next to Matt, as far away from Clarke and Finn as possible, who were in the back of the group. 

“Alright so, as you saw, the dropship landed about 350 miles to the South. We will never make it to them, and they won’t make it here. It was carrying mostly guard members, but a few of us had family on it, the only person I know for sure is your dad Miller. The Ark will let us know if they make contact, in the meantime, Monty, start trying to figure out how to boost the range of our radio so we can possibly talk to them. Sadly, we are officially on our own again for at least another day. Possibly two. We are gonna figure this out! Raven is working on defenses, and we have plenty of ammo! We should be able to repel a direct assault, but we are also working on a way to stop the attack outright before it even begins. Okay, that is all, back to work everyone!” Matt finished.

“I’m with you Mecha Station,” Matt grunted, following Raven back to her tent. 

“What happened with the launch?” Raven asked. 

“Apparently some idiot decoupled and launched too early. No idea how or why. We will know more once we make contact. How are things going here?” Matt asked. 

“Same as when you left,” Raven deadpanned. 

“Yeah I know, listen, can I just hang out here with you for a bit? No more jokes, I promise,” Matt smiled. 

Raven nodded, “Sure, sit down.” She stopped him before he had a chance to move, “Actually, let's go take a look at that wiring, no chance of anyone bothering us there,” she suggested. 

“Okay, sure. Let's go,” Matt relented. 

Raven walked him to the back of the dropship, and crawled underneath. Matt followed her down. The underbelly of the dropship did look like a mess, he tapped the fuel pods and Raven was right, there was a lot of hydrazine left. 

“Okay, I’m going to get started on this, you can just lay there and talk to me until I need you. Cool?” Raven asked. 

“Cool. Hey Mecha Station?” Matt started. 

“Hmm?” she asked, looking at him. 

“I haven’t really been paying attention, on account of many reasons, chief among them I have just been too tired, but when you got down and crawled underneath here, I couldn’t help but notice the fact that you have a great ass. Did you know that?” Matt smiled. 

“Oh my God,” she scurried over to him and clamped her hand over his mouth. “You promised no jokes!” she hissed. “NO. JOKES.” she pointed her other finger at him with a staredown. He nodded, but she held her hand over his mouth for a little longer before slowly lifting her hand up. She pointed at him again and backed away, starting to work on the wires, as he just laid there in silence. 

“Just remember Matt, I can blow you up in your sleep,” she whispered. 

Matt just smiled. “What a sweet release that would be. You know I just want one normal day? Yesterday I came close, all that happened was I made first contact with the grounders, and it blew up in my face.”

Raven stopped for a moment. “It has been really insane for you, hasn’t it?” 

“Off the charts Mecha Station. Off the charts,” Matt admitted. 

Raven laid there for a minute, then asked, “Can I talk about what you ‘noticed’ for a second?” 

“You want to talk about...your ass? Sure go ahead, be as detailed..” Matt started, but Raven raised her hand, silencing him. 

She took a breath and then, “I need some time Matt. I need time to make a final decision, then I need to act on it. Depending on how that goes, I will need even more time. And, just so we are clear, I’m not going to come running to you, but you have been very supportive, taking my side entirely. And I appreciate it, honestly, if not for you, it would probably really suck here for me. So, your chances are pretty good,” she finished with a smile. 

They laid there in silence for a bit. “Can I say something? No jokes, promise,” Matt smiled. 

Raven nodded. 

“I’ve told you before Raven, I knew you had tremendous potential the first time I saw you, I also felt extremely bad for you a few moments after I met you, because I knew we had a problem on our hands, a stupid problem, that lies entirely at the feet of one person. I haven’t been working an angle when I come to check up on you. I don’t expect anything. But if something were to happen, I’m not there for a one night stand. I told you, Bellamy or Clarke for that. I have had my fill of one night stands, believe me, you can’t even comprehend it. So if you do come to me for one of my famous massages, you are coming to me for the long haul,” Matt finished. 

Raven resumed working on the wires in the silence. Matt tried to enjoy the downtime, knowing it would likely be short. He was of course, correct. 

“Something just hit the tripwire!!” Miller shouted. 

“Weapons up, but hold your fire!” Bellamy responded. 

“I gotta go. You good here?” Matt asked Raven. She nodded and he climbed out from under the dropship and ran over to Miller’s position. Looking out into the woods, he saw nothing. 

“What do you got?” Matt whispered. 

“I heard the cans rustle, for sure,” Miller responded. 

“It's okay, I believe you. Maintain your positions, I’ll scope it out,” Matt motioned down the firing line, drawing his sword and leaping over the wall and down into the woods. He moved slowly up towards the tripwires, seeing nothing. He inched forward, with a bad feeling. He was shocked at what he discovered. 

Murphy laid there, covered in blood, cuts, scars all over his back. He was reaching out for help. 

“Holy shit, Murphy! Hey! It's Murphy! Come give me a hand!” Matt shouted back at the camp. Two kids came running out and they carried Murphy inside the wall. 

“Clarke! We need you!” Matt shouted. 

Clarke came running up, “Oh my God, Murphy! Are you okay?” 

“No,” Murphy gasped. 

“Lets get him in the dropship. I need boiled water, and some bandages. A lot of bandages!” Clarke exclaimed. 

Matt and another kid dragged Murphy into the dropship, barking at Monty to make some room and then go, which he did. 

“Set him down here, hey Murphy, what happened to you?” Matt asked. 

“This,” Murphy whispered, holding up his hands, covered in blood. 

“Oh God, they ripped off his fingernails. They tortured him,” whispered Clarke. 

“How did they capture you?” Matt asked, trying to clean the blood off of him.

“I was a couple of feet outside the wall, and they grabbed me,” Murphy cried. 

“Okay okay, listen, we need to bathe him, honestly throwing him into a waterhole would be the best,” Clarke whispered. 

“Sure Clarke, do you see a waterhole around?” Matt asked. “Let's just try to clean him off so we can bandage his wounds, okay?” 

Murphy started coughing violently, and Matt tried to hold onto him, “Hang in there Murphy, we got you!” His coughing fit ended as he vomited up blood. 

“That shouldn’t be happening, why is he throwing up blood?” Clarke asked. 

“I don’t know. Lets get some more water, and find Octavia,” Matt pressed. 

Matt walked down the ramp, starting to shout for Octavia, and collapsed suddenly. 

“Matt!” Clarke shouted and tried to catch him, to no avail 

“Clarke! I’m bleeding from my eyes, it won’t stop,” Conner, the kid that had helped bring Murphy in. “You are bleeding too,” he whispered. 

Matt was losing consciousness, but he heard Clarke trying to issue orders as a panic gripped the camp. He heard Bellamy’s voice, he wanted to hear Harper’s but he couldn’t. They helped him limp back into the dropship, when he also coughed up blood. He was running a fever, he could make out Clarke over him, whispering to him. Octavia was there too, all he wanted was Harper. 

“Harper..” he whispered. 

“Shh, be quiet Matt, Harper is safe outside. You are going to be okay, I’m going to take care of you,” Clarke whispered to him. 

“If I don’t make it..” Matt whispered. 

“Hush Matt! You have to survive, you hear me? Stay with us Matt!” Clarke cried. Stay awake!” 

Matt tried to focus, but his vision was blurry, “Tell her I’m sorry..”

“She knows Matt. She knows, now just stay awake!” Clarke urged. 

One of the kids started to convulse, Clarke looked at him but didn’t want to break away from Matt, Octavia rushed over to check on him, he suddenly stopped moving entirely. 

“He is dead..” Octavia whispered. 

Matt grabbed Clarke’s hands, “Take care of them okay? Promise me..” 

“No Matt. No! You hate promises remember? You hate them. I’m not making any promises, just focus on me! Stay awake! Here drink this water!” Clarke pleaded, pouring water onto his mouth, causing him to sputter. “Drink Matt!” she yelled. He tried to swallow the water, it tasted good. 

“I’m so tired...” Matt whispered. 

“No Matt!” Clarke slapped him, “Stay awake! Focus on me!” 

Matt was able to really look at her, finally. He saw the surrounding kids, some blankets covering bodies, thought of Harper, then looked back at Clarke. 

“Clarke..is Harper..” 

“She is fine Matt. And it's Octavia. Clarke’s condition worsened an hour ago. Your fever finally broke. Do you feel better?” Octavia asked. 

“Octavia? Yeah, I do actually. How long have I..” he trailed off. 

“You have drifted in and out for three hours, I made a run to Lincoln’s, he said the sickness passes quickly, but there is no cure. Murphy is feeling better, now you are the second to recover. Lincoln also said the attack comes at dawn, Bellamy is launching the bomb mission now,” Octavia finished. 

“I’m going with..” Matt started, but Octavia slapped him. 

“Harper said you would say that, and she said to slap you back down. You are not at full strength Matt, now rest. You are lucky to be alive. And believe me, everyone was overjoyed when your fever broke. Now Its Bellamy, Raven, Miller, and Harper. If one of them goes down the other takes their spot. They will be okay,” Octavia scolded him. 

Suddenly Bellamy stumbled into the dropship, coughing up blood.

“Oh my God, Bellamy! We need a bed!” Octavia shouted. 

“Here, take mine, I am okay now,” Matt offered, stumbling out of the bed and onto the ground. 

“You are far from okay, but thanks, now go rest in the corner with Murphy. You are out of the woods, but you have to take it easy,” Octavia commanded. 

Matt didn’t argue, and stumbled to the corner where Murphy was sitting, flopping down. 

“Hey,” Matt managed. 

“Hey,” Murphy replied. “Who is taking Bellamy’s spot I wonder?” 

Matt just shook his head, noticing the pile of bodies. “Who did we lose?” 

“Are you going to blame me for not knowing their names?” Murphy asked. 

Matt shook his head again, “What happened Murphy? Tell me the story.”

“Not much to tell, they snatched me, took me back to their village, hours from here, tortured me for all the information I had, which I gave them.”

“How did you get away?” Matt asked. 

“They left the door to my cage open, and I ran. Clarke already deduced they let me go after infecting me with whatever this virus is. I made my way back to camp as fast as I could, it took hours,” Murphy replied. 

“Shit. I’m sorry Murphy. When did they snatch you?” Matt asked. 

“Right after you guys left to rescue Octavia, which I notice you did. When did you notice I was missing? Did you even send a search team?” Murphy sighed. 

Matt shook his head, “I noticed I didn’t see you when we got back with Octavia. But Finn had gotten stabbed in the ribs with a poisoned blade, and the hurricane was right on top of us. We had captured our own prisoner, but our torture pales to what they did to you. I noticed I still didn’t see you the next morning. Finally, that evening I told Clarke to track you down and put you back to work, I figured you were passed out drunk or something over guilt from losing Octavia. I had no idea you were missing. It wasn’t until I came back from sleeping the next morning that Bellamy and Clarke told me you were missing, and they searched the surrounding area but couldn’t find any trace of you. We all felt bad about it, specifically because we didn’t even know when you had gone missing,” Matt finished. 

Murphy just sat there in silence, then asked, “So did the Spacewalker survive?” 

“Yeah, he lived. Later on, he got hit in the shoulder by a grounder arrow, seems like he has built up some bad karma,” Matt whispered. 

“Seriously, I only got a brief look at Raven, but who would cheat on that?” Murphy asked. 

Matt shook his head, “I don’t understand it either. Listen, Murphy. After our strength has returned, I will elevate your position, although it might be brief, considering there is a grounder army coming to kill us in a few hours.”

Murphy didn’t respond, Matt was out of energy, he guessed Murphy was too. He dozed off for a bit. He was awakened by a huge explosion and the ground was shaking. 

“That sounds like victory to me,” Murphy observed.

Matt was able to stand and walked out of the ship, down the ramp, the group was all standing there looking at the mushroom cloud. 

Wow Mecha Station, too much hydrazine, Matt thought to himself. 

“I am become Death,” Clarke whispered. 

Matt headed back up the ramp, he was so tired. The team had bought them another 24 hours, in all likelihood. He sat back down in his spot next to Murphy. 

“Was I correct?” Murphy asked. 

“It's a long story, but we just blew a bridge that the grounder army was crossing to attack us, which means we probably have another day to prepare for their attack,” Matt replied. 

Matt looked around, it was just a couple of sick kids left now. It looked like they were going to survive the virus, minus whoever they had already lost. 

“Hey Murphy, I’m gonna get some rest..” Matt started. 

“Yes you are Matt!” Murphy yelled at him, as he caught Matt in the face with a clean elbow, knocking him over. Matt held his face and looked at Murphy through one eye just in time to see his foot coming down on him, and it went black. 


	24. Murphy's Pain

Matt slowly woke up, groggy, his head spinning, he couldn’t move. His senses were coming back and he saw Murphy holding a rifle, the dropship door was closed. Murphy was standing a little below him, which Matt found odd until he realized he had been strung up, standing on a chair, hands tied behind his back, with a noose around his neck. 

“Murphy what the hell..” Matt started. 

“Shut up Matt!” Murphy shouted, as he hit Matt in the gut with the butt of his rifle, leaving Matt gasping for air. Murphy pulled on the rope and the noose got tighter. “I’m in charge now! So just shut your mouth!” 

Matt could hear screaming outside, mostly obscenities directed at Murphy. 

“Shut up!” Murphy yelled again. He walked over to one of the sick kids, and to Matt’s horror, shot one of them in the head. 

Matt struggled against the ropes, “MURPHY! Why are you doing this!” he demanded. 

“Why? You ask that? You abandoned me! You are so determined to survive, yet you abandon people like they don’t matter. Well, let me show you how much they don’t matter!” Murphy screamed again, and shot the other sick kid in the head. 

Matt struggled even more violently. “How does that feel Matt? You didn’t even try to save them! Just like you didn’t even try to save me! You didn’t even realize I was gone for two days! You abandoned me! I hate you! Your father floated my parents! And you tried to kill me! Well you failed Matt! And now you are going to die! And there is nothing you can do about it, so just do me a favor, and suffer!” Murphy finished as he pulled against the rope, choking Matt. 

Matt struggled to breathe, struggled against the rope tying his hands, but he couldn’t get free. 

“How does that feel Matt? How does it feel to have your awesome power stripped away from you?” Murphy hissed as he continued to pull on the rope. 

“Murphyyyy” Matt gasped. 

“Don’t worry Matt, I’m not an idiot. I’m killing you fast, I just wanted you to know it was me,” Murphy snarled, as he walked over to the chair holding Matt up. Suddenly there was a sound beneath them. 

“What's that I wonder? A rescue attempt? Well, lets see how they like this,” Murphy said, as he shot several rounds into the floor. The dropship ramp started to open, realizing his time was up, Murphy kicked the chair out from under Matt and ran upstairs. 

Matt struggled, but it was no use. The noose was choking him out, and he started to lose consciousness. He felt someone grab his legs, and air filled his lungs again. 

“Breathe Matt!” Harper pleaded, as she held his legs. Matt gasped for air, and Miller chopped the rope down that was holding him up. Crashing to the ground, Harper quickly took the noose off of him and started to untie his hands. 

“Murphy! Its over!” Bellamy was screaming, as he pushed against the hatch, Murphy had blocked it with something. 

“I am going to kill him,” Matt growled, reaching for his sword, but realizing it wasn’t there. He looked around for it, Miller was holding it out to him. He unsheathed it and stood up, forgetting about the virus that had weakened him, forgetting about the impending grounder attack, focusing his rage solely on Murphy, tightening his grip on the sword.

“Matt, you got this,” Harper said. “Focus.” 

Bellamy was still yelling for Murphy as an explosion rang out, shaking the ship. 

“What was that?” Matt demanded. 

“An explosion,” Miller deadpanned. 

Matt whirled around at Miller, but Harper cut in, “Miller, are you an idiot!? Be quiet! We know it was an explosion!” 

Bellamy broke through the hatch and made it upstairs, Matt quickly followed, ready to feast on Murphy’s corpse. But Murphy was gone, having blown a hole in the side of the dropship. They looked out and spotted Murphy running away. 

“He has nowhere to go, what is he gonna do, go back to the grounders? When he comes back, he dies,” Matt finished. “Let's make sure everyone is okay.” 

“Wait,” Bellamy said, grabbing him. “Are you okay Matt?” 

“Yeah, thanks to your rescue, I’m good,” Matt said, trying to pull away, but Bellamy didn’t let go. 

“Wait. Take a minute.” 

“Bellamy..” Matt started. 

“I have seen this before, just take a couple of minutes to catch your breath,” Bellamy cut him off. 

Matt took a deep breath and exhaled. He repeated the process one more time. And then again. 

“Listen to the report as you come back down. Harper, Miller, Raven, and Monty blew the bridge. Miller took the first shot but missed, Harper took the next one and it was a direct hit. She is the hero. Raven was the one that opened the dropship door from below, so she is also the hero. Okay, you are good. Lets go check on everyone,” Bellamy finished, and started down. 

“Hey Bellamy,” Matt shouted after him. “Thanks man.” 

Bellamy nodded and headed down, with Matt following, he was worried about Raven. 

“Check on Raven immediately! Murphy fired some rounds down there!” Matt urged. 

He took another breath and saw Harper. Walking over, he asked, “Can I have a hug? I feel like I need one.” 

Harper smiled, “I thought you would never ask,” as she leapt into his arms. “Thank you for not dying. To the virus, Or Murphy. Clarke delivered your message so dramatically, I thought you were dead. It was really hard to focus on the mission,” she whispered. 

Continuing to hold her, Matt whispered back, “I heard you hit the target on your first shot, way to go. Maybe I should suffer a few more near death experiences.” 

Harper giggled. “Beginner’s luck, and please no, the female contingent was really worried about you.” 

“Just a bit longer okay?” Matt asked, as he continued to hug her. 

They finally broke the hug and began to walk out, Matt stopping to look at the two kids that Murphy executed. 

“How horrible, why would he do this?” Harper whispered. 

Matt couldn’t say anything, so he just continued down the ramp, and the group outside started cheering.

“He is okay!” a girl shouted. 

“I guess they really were worried about me,” Matt sighed. 

“You are our leader Matt, believe it or not, we all love you,” Harper laughed. “And Bellamy, and Clarke. We are all doing our best to help you guys.” 

Matt sighed, “Yeah..okay.” 

Bellamy shouted, “We need help! Raven has been shot! Murphy hit her right in the butt!” 

No way, not that great ass, Matt sighed to himself.

Bellamy was pulling Raven out from under the ship, as they all gathered around. Matt helped drag her out of there and she flopped down on her stomach in pain. 

“Let me see,” Matt pressed. 

Raven waved him off, “Matt I am so happy that you are okay, but if you make one joke about my ass I am going to kill you myself,” she screamed. 

“What do I say to that?” Matt threw his hands up in the air. Clarke came forward and pushed past him. 

“She will be okay, it's just a flesh wound. Lets get her on the dropship. Matt?” Clarke motioned to her. 

“Hey, Mecha Station. I can’t roll you over, so I am gonna have to throw you over my shoulder, okay? No jokes,” Matt whispered. 

Raven nodded. “I really am glad you are okay, just lift me up gently please?”

“I’m going to pull you to your feet,” Matt started as he pulled her up, she leaned up against him and he picked her up and placed her over his shoulder, walking around the dropship and up the ramp. 

“Take her legs, we have to lay her down on her stomach Miller,” Matt pressed him. Miller grabbed her legs as he backed up and let her slide off his shoulder, lowering her gently on her stomach. 

“Okay guys out, her pants have to go,” Clarke started to shoo them out. 

“Why do I have to leave?” Miller asked. 

“Come on man,” Matt sighed, grabbing Miller. They walked out. 

“Hey Matt!” Raven shouted after him. He stopped and turned.

“Can you send Finn in? I’ve made my decision,” Raven sighed. 

“Yeah, sure thing,” Matt replied, as he walked down the ramp. “Miller, put some people on burial duty, okay?” 

Miller nodded and headed off, leaving Matt to find the Spacewalker alone. He walked over to Clarke’s tent, where he was sure he would find his target. Sure enough, he was in there. 

Finn looked up, “They wouldn’t let me go on the mission,” he sighed. 

“I wouldn’t have either. Raven wants to see you,” Matt finished and walked away, looking for Harper, forgetting about Finn immediately. 

He spotted her with Monty, he didn’t want to intrude, but he felt needed to. 

“Harper!” he waved her over as he sat next to the fire. Harper left Monty and headed over, sitting down next to him. 

“Whats up Matt?” she asked. 

“Great work on the bridge mission, you guys really stepped up,” Matt started. 

“Thank you,” she smiled. 

“So, when I was in there, sick and dying, I uh, thought about you a lot. I’m sorry if I worried you. And..I’m sorry my message to you sucked so much. I couldn’t really get that many words out and,” Matt tried.

“Shut up Matt,” Harper cut him off. “You don’t have to apologize for anything, okay? If anyone owes me an apology, it's Clarke, for totally screwing up the delivery. But she was sick too,” she sighed. 

Matt sighed, “Right. So, how are things going with Monty?” 

“Great. He is really smart, and caring. He also makes great moonshine. And he..” Harper trailed off. 

“He doesn’t hang you from trees or throw you in holes,” Matt finished for her. 

Harper looked at him, “Right.” 

“I think about that fuck up everyday. I’ll never live it down,” Matt sighed. 

“You have to let it go Matt. There are things from that night that I did that I am ashamed about too. We have both apologized for it, we have accepted each other’s apologies, now we have to move forward. How about this? How are things going with Raven?” Harper asked, smiling. 

“What? Raven? Why would you ask..” Matt stammered. 

“Matt you are such a guy. Every girl in this camp sees you at all times. We all know you have it out for Raven. And we all know you are being a true gentleman and waiting for her. I bet you just went and got Finn for her right? So she can dump him?” Harper laughed. 

“Well she said she made her decision, and sent me to fetch him. So, I’m glad I’m not him right now. Did something happen between him and Clarke?” Matt asked. 

“Clarke was doing her best to keep the camp in control during the virus, people were panicking, and Clarke broke them up, Bellamy helped her, but it was mostly Clarke. She started to collapse and Finn ran up and caught her, not caring if he got infected. I think that was the moment Raven saw with her own eyes that he loved Clarke. Sooo yeah, I think your chances are improving,” Harper laughed again. 

“I told her where I was at, but she said she would need some time, so I will wait a little longer,” Matt admitted. 

“No one night stands, right?” Harper smiled. “That's why you're really talking to me, right Matt?” 

“What do you mean?” Matt asked. 

“Again, such a guy,” Harper laughed. “You haven’t told anyone about what happened between us, and you are worried you might have to share that information with Raven, and you want my okay,” she finished. 

“Uhh..” Matt stammered. 

“Matt, I am about three Raven conversations ahead of you in your mind. Okay? You can tell her about what happened on the first night, okay? I’m good with it. I trust you. You officially have my permission,” Harper laughed. 

“You are having a great time right now, aren’t you?” Matt shook his head. 

“The time of my life. But mostly because you didn’t die today. I am genuinely relieved that you are okay enough to think about girls, instead of grounders,” Harper finished. 

Finn was slowly walking out of the dropship, alone. Harper saw him and shook her head, “The world’s least desirable bachelor. Go on Matt, go see Clarke and Raven,” she said, standing up. 

“Thanks Harper,” Matt stood up. 

“Captain Harper,” she corrected him. “You keep forgetting.” 

“I think you earned a promotion today, Major Harper,” Matt smiled. 

“I accept, now shoo!” Harper waved him off. Matt walked off, he had a different destination in mind first. Finn slunk away to Clarke’s empty tent, the guy had literally no one to talk to. Matt didn’t give him a second thought, as he approached Octavia’s tent. 

“Octavia? It’s Matt, can I come in?” Matt whispered. 

“Sure,” Octavia responded. 

Matt entered her tent, Octavia was lying on her stomach, facing away from the entrance, reading through Lincoln’s book. She had never looked better, and she didn’t even reposition as Matt sat down and faced her. 

“Hey, thanks for..everything today, even though I don’t remember most of it. I suspect you had a big hand in saving a lot of lives,” Matt sighed. 

“I’m glad you’re okay Matt,” Octavia said, closing the book and looking at him, “So how was the adrenaline high?” she grinned. 

“Uh, what?” Matt stammered. 

Octavia smiled, she looked amazing. “Listen Matt, I know Bellamy and Clarke have a plan in place with the leadership group to help bring you back down from the adrenaline high’s you get when you are about to kill someone. And I know you were getting high off the idea of killing Murphy, so, how was it?” she finished, as she rolled over on her side and faced him. 

Matt just sighed. “Wow Octavia. You think I’m some kind of adrenaline junkie?”

“Yes, and I also think it sounds amazing. How do I look by the way?” 

“Uh, what?” Matt stammered again. 

“You have been checking me out the whole time you have been here, and I don’t mind, at all. But I’m not Raven,” she whispered. 

Matt sighed again, “Does everyone know about that?” 

“Of course Matt. You broke a lot of hearts too. But everyone also appreciates the no shirt/sword on your back look you are currently rocking. Don’t worry about them, my brother has been more than willing to satisfy their desires. Now I think Raven is waiting for you, go on,” she waved him out. 

Matt stood to leave, “Octavia? One last thing, did Lincoln share any intel with you about their numbers?” 

Octavia looked at him, “Thousands, Matt.” 

Matt sighed and left her tent. 

Thousands, he sighed.

Matt slowly made his way towards the dropship, the same young girl came up to him and offered him another slab of meat, which he accepted. 

“You have to get your strength back,” she offered. 

“Yeah, thanks. What's your name?” Matt asked her. 

“Fox,” she smiled. 

“Thanks Fox, I’ll see you later,” Matt finished, chewing on the meat. 

Matt headed up the dropship ramp, Clarke had set up the videofeed with her Mom to help with Raven. 

“Matt is coming, cover her up Clarke!” Abby whispered.

Raven’s pants were off, and Clarke had been working on the bullet wound. Matt didn’t even look up, he was chewing on the meat, which was tasty. 

“Don’t worry about it, how does he look?’ Raven asked Abby. 

“Well uh, he still isn’t wearing a shirt, and he looks exhausted. I suppose both of those things are normal,” Abby sighed. 

“Pretty much, how is everyone doing here? Raven, how are you?” Matt sighed, as he grabbed a chair and turned it so he couldn’t see Raven without actively looking, and collapsed in it. He winced as his back hit the sword, and took it off, dropping it on the ground. 

They were talking, but he wasn’t hearing anything. He was a lot more tired than he thought, the virus had taken a lot out of him, and the adrenaline was long gone. 

“Matt? Did you hear that?” Clarke broke his train of thought.

“Hmm? No, sorry. Who am I listening to?” Matt stammered.

“Matt is everything okay? Do you want to go to sleep?” Clarke asked. 

“No I’m good. I’m just having..a weird day. First I almost died to a virus, then I almost got hanged, then I walk down the ramp and everyone is cheering for me, I didn’t even do anything. Harper tells me they are cheering because they love me, and they are glad I’m okay. That was...surreal. I’m not accustomed to being loved, what happened to them hating me? That feels like just yesterday. Now I can’t even walk through camp without someone handing me food. It's just..weird that's all,” Matt sighed. 

“Wow Matt okay, you are exhausted. Go upstairs and go to bed,” Clarke commanded. 

“No no, I’m waiting to take Raven to bed. I’m good,” Matt waved her off.

“You are waiting on..what?” Clarke started.

“Clarke? Is my treatment done?” Raven interrupted her. “I asked Matt to carry me to bed.” 

“Oh. Uh, yeah, we got the bullet out, you should be fine Raven. Walking in a few days. We can go over the briefing tomorrow with Matt, after he gets some needed rest. And Matt? I’m also really glad you lived. I was really worried about you for a while there,” Clarke finished. 

“Thanks for taking care of me Clarke, I appreciate it,” Matt sighed, standing up. “Alright Mecha Station, you good to go?” 

“Yeah Matt, lift me up and I will crawl over your shoulder, okay?”

“Nah, you gotta crawl onto my back, that's the only way upstairs without having to set you down on your butt,” Matt replied. 

“Matt, her tent is-” Clarke started.

“He is right, we are going upstairs,” Raven cut her off again, climbing onto his back, with Matt holding her legs. “Let's go Matt, good night Abby.” 

“Uh, good night Raven, Matt,” Abby said. 

Matt had totally forgotten Abby was even there, as he walked over to the ladder and climbed up. He reached the top and walked over to his sleeping bag, lying down so Raven could crawl off of him. She fell onto the bag and made a spot for him, which he collapsed into. 

“Hey Matt?” Raven demanded.

He looked at her. 

“Do you remember me asking you to carry me to bed? Specifically?” she pressed. 

Matt shook his head, “No. Not at all.” 

“Because I didn’t you IDIOT!” Oh my God!’ she clamped her hand over his mouth again. “What am I going to do with you?” she hissed. She held her hand there and stared daggers into his eyes, before finally breaking into a huge giggle. 

He joined her in laughing, and she rested her head on his chest. 

“I’m also really glad you didn’t die today. And before you apologize, I would take multiple shots to the ass to save you. You’re worth it Matt Kane, even if you are an absolute moron,” she whispered. 

He put his arm around her, “I’m not used to all this kindness. It feels weird.” 

She looked at him, “I’m going out of my way to be mean to you right now, and it's not even working, is it? Don’t answer that, I know it's not. Just..try not to die tomorrow either, okay?”

“I will do my absolute best, I promise,” Matt whispered. 

“I heard you hate promises,” Raven whispered back. 

“I do, yes. Did you also hear that apparently I am a huge adrenaline junkie?” Matt asked. 

“Yeah, Bellamy and Clarke have a plan in place to help you bring it down once the moment has passed. Bellamy specifically said, ‘No direct confrontations, unless you want to lose your head.’ You are going to have to explain that one, at some point. Actually you are gonna need to explain why they went to the effort of putting a plan in place to bring you down,” Raven replied. 

“Not much to explain about the head comment, it's literal,” Matt smiled. “I have a problem cutting people’s heads off. I have found it's a very effective way to ensure they die.” 

Raven reached up and put her hand over his mouth again, “No more talking. Lets just go to sleep, before one of us loses our head. Namely, you.”

“Are you just gonna lay on top of me all night? How about you at least take your shirt off?” Matt remarked. 

Raven again put her hand over his mouth and let out a deep sigh, “You know you are impossible right? It was your idea to bring me to your sleeping bag. Why don’t you have a tent like everyone else?”

“I actually have a private bunker, but I don’t want to leave the camp. As for a tent..I never got one because of..problems,” Matt sighed. 

“Because of whatever happened on the first night? It seems we have a lot to talk about Matt Kane, but in the meantime, yes, I am going to lay on top of you all night. As for your other question...” Raven finished and pulled off her shirt, tossing it to the side. “Better?” 

“Oh yeah, much better. Hey Raven? I’m sorry about mmph..” Matt tried, but Raven put her hand over his mouth. 

“Nope. Go to sleep Matt.” 

They fell asleep in each other’s arms. Tomorrow was going to be another tough day, but for now, they didn’t have to worry about it. 


	25. Recovering and Matchmaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this was a long one!

Day 9

Matt was sleeping soundly when he felt the breeze blowing onto his face. He didn’t want to wake up so he just kept his eyes closed. The breeze blew a little harder, he tried to roll over but he couldn’t. He tried to move his arms but he couldn’t really do that either, then the breeze turned into a gust and a giggle and he opened his eyes to see Raven on top of him, smiling. 

“Oh, good morning,” he murmured. “I think there is a draft in here.”

“There is a draft silly, see the hole Murphy blew into the side of the ship? But no, I was blowing onto your face, Raven smiled. 

“Oh right, Murphy,” Matt sighed. He had forgotten about Murphy, and that entire ordeal. He had forgotten about everything really, “Can I just stay in bed with you today while everyone else takes care of the problems?” 

“I’m pretty sure everyone would be dead by the end of the day, so that's a firm no,” Raven laughed. 

“Bellamy and Clarke can handle it. And Major Harper is the real deal. No one has ever risen up the ranks as fast as her, she will be a General by the end of the week. We can take a day off.” Matt whispered. 

“Well, for the record, I can’t actually get up, and I’m pretty sure your body can’t move right now, so I guess we are stuck here a little longer. That gives us some time to talk,” Raven whispered. 

“What would you like to talk about?” Matt mused. There were certainly plenty of topics. 

“Clarke,” Raven whispered. 

Not expecting that answer, Matt asked, “What about Clarke?” 

“She looked really miserable last night, and don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of things to be miserable about, but I think you were right about her. I think Finn hurt her as much as he did me,” Raven sighed. 

“I thought she looked..” Matt started. 

“You didn’t even see her, goofball. You didn’t see anything last night, you were a zombie. I had to get you out of there before you embarrassed me even more,” she laughed. 

“I embarrassed you?” Matt asked. 

“Matt, you literally told two other women you were taking me to bed,” Raven deadpanned. 

“I did?” Matt stammered. 

“Oh my God go back to not talking,” she laughed, clasping her hand over his mouth. “But no really, I think Clarke might need some help. You have been keeping everyone focused, supporting me a ton, which I deeply appreciate, but Clarke..where do you think she slept last night?”

“I would say Bellamy’s tent before Finn, honestly. I am pretty sure that guy nuked all of his bridges. What do you want me to do? Clarke and I are pretty far apart right now, and you said it yourself, my ‘words of encouragement’ aren’t exactly up to par,” Matt sighed. 

“Talking to girls does seem to be something you suck at. It's your presence and your intentions Matt, that's what I have appreciated. I have an idea,” Raven finished. 

Matt waited. “Well are you going to share it or am I supposed to read your mind?” 

Raven clasped her hand over his mouth again. “Read. My. Mind.” 

“Knock Knock! Raven? I need to change your bandages. Oh! I’m sorry...” Clarke had come up and opened the hatch, looking away from them in embarrassment. 

“Its okay Clarke, come on up!” Raven shouted at her. “This is the perfect opportunity,” she whispered softly to Matt. 

“I guess I am just going with it,” Matt whispered.

“Um, okay,” Clarke finished coming up the ladder and sat down next to them. “If I unzip this sleeping bag, promise me you both have clothes on.”

“I don’t do promises Clarke, you know that,” Matt smiled. 

“Ignore him Clarke, we are good,” Raven sighed. 

Clarke unzipped the sleeping bag, and Raven crawled off of Matt, who stretched out the stiffness, with both girls staring at him. 

“What?” he asked innocently. 

Clarke shook her head, “Nothing,” she whispered. 

Raven was right, Clarke seemed to be handling things terribly, and despite the mountain of problems facing them, Matt decided to take some time for her. 

“How are you doing, Clarke?” Matt asked. 

“I’m fine,” Clarke lied, as she worked quickly on Raven’s bandage, eyeing the hatch. She wanted out. 

Raven gave Matt a look, and he continued, “Where did you sleep last night?” 

Clarke finished the bandage. “It doesn’t matter, I’m done here. Try to take it easy Raven,” she tried. 

“Clarke stop,” Raven cut in. “Stop.”

“What is it? Clarke asked. 

“Matt? Scoot over. Come lay in between us Clarke,” Raven said. 

Clarke started to protest, “I really don’t think that's a good..”

Raven stared her down as Matt made room, “Now, Clarke.” 

Clarke relented and slowly got down in between them, on her back, lying in silence. 

Raven started to pull Clarke’s shirt off, but she cried out in protest, “Raven, stop.”

“Take off. Your shirt. Don’t make me make Matt rip it off,” Raven commanded. 

Clarke sighed and pulled it off, ‘Why is everyone doing this to me?” she complained as she also took her pants off, without being told. “Happy?” she asked. 

Raven rested her arm across Clarke, “I’m just going to lie here, and you’re going to talk to Matt, okay?” 

Clarke sighed and looked up at the ceiling, for the moment, hating it. Then she looked at Matt, who was lying on his side, staring back at her. 

“Where did you sleep last night?” Matt asked, softly. 

Clarke sighed, “Well, all of the guys were taken, and I wanted nothing to do with my tent, so I slept in Octavia’s tent, in her sleeping bag, just like this actually.” 

Matt winced, “Oh man. That must have been a rough landing. How did you even get in her tent?”

“I had to offer her whatever she wanted for the night, she seemed to like that power,” Clarke sighed. “She was twisting the knife pretty hard, and I just jumped out of my sleeping bag, offering her anything, just begging her not to torture me. That's how I lost my clothes. I think she just wanted to see me being genuinely desperate and submissive, after that, she was a lot nicer, and gave me a chest to cry on, which I needed. I still need,” Clarke finished, closing her eyes. 

Matt smiled, “Octavia was looking really good last night when I went to see her, asking me about the adrenaline highs, I think she felt empowered by the way I was looking at her, Clarke coming to her tent offering to be her sex slave must have made her feel like a Queen.” he laughed. “She is straight as an arrow though, so that was pure dominance.”

Clarke stayed quiet, turning her head to press against Raven’s. “I’m sorry Raven,” she whispered. 

“I know, and I am going to help you through it, but first I want to make him feel it,” Raven whispered back. 

Matt wrapped his arm around Clarke and held onto her as well. The whole situation was bullshit, and too much energy was being wasted on it. If they could put it to bed here, he was all in. 

“I’ll do anything to make it up to you Raven,” Clarke whispered. 

“Cool, how about a massage then?” Raven smiled. 

“Um, I think Matt is the one you want to ask for a massage,” Clarke stammered. 

“Oh, it's not for me, I have a gunshot wound in my ass, remember? It's for you, I’m thinking Matt gives you a crushing massage while I hold onto your wrists listening to your screams of agony. Matt? Get down there in position,” Raven ordered, as she crawled in front of the sleeping bag, and turned around to face Clarke. 

“Right now? No no no, Raven! The whole camp will hear me! You don’t understand, Matt is a monster! Please no!” Clarke protested.

“Yeah, that's the point Clarke. The whole camp will hear you, including him. Now stop struggling,” Raven laughed as she pulled Clarke’s bra off, much to her dismay. 

“No no, please! Matt, no!” Clarke continued to protest, but there wasn’t much she could do as Matt took her feet into his hands and Raven held her own hands out. 

“Give me your wrists Clarke,” she commanded. Clarke gradually surrendered as she held her hands out so Raven could take hold of her wrists. “Go ahead Matt, start on her calves.”

“Matt please don’t...” Clarke tried but it was too late, she let out a muffled cry into the pillow as Matt started to work on her calves.

“You sure about this?” Matt asked Raven.

“I am. Listen Clarke, you can’t say his name, you have to scream my name. Got it? Everytime you say his name there will be a harsh punishment.”

“Raven! Please, they are going to hear me, AHHHHH!!” Clarke cried out as Matt continued to work her calves. 

“She is really contorted Raven, I think this could take a while,” Matt smiled. 

Clarke tried to shoot him a look but with Raven holding her wrists she couldn’t, all she could do was scream violently into the pillow. Raven held tightly onto Clarke’s wrists as they reacted in agony, all she could do was try to scream as deep into the pillow as she could. 

“RAVEN! PLEASE! LET ME GO!” Clarke came up shouting, as Raven just laughed. Matt kept working her calves as Clarke struggled with her hands. She wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Does it feel good Clarke? Yes or no?” Raven asked. 

“Yes! But please nooo more,” Clarke sobbed as she buried her head into her pillow. 

“Move up to her lower legs Matt,” Raven whispered. 

“No! Matt, please!” Clarke gasped. 

“You said his name! Matt, take her bottoms off!” Raven laughed. 

“WHAAAAAAT?” Clarke shrieked. 

“Uh, you sure that's okay?” Matt asked. 

“Yes, I’m sure!” Raven answered at the exact same time Clarke cried out no. 

“It's either the bottoms or I take the pillow away Clarke,” Raven hissed. 

“Okay! Take the bottoms, oh my God! RAVEN! Please!” Clarke shrieked as Matt pulled her bottoms off. 

Are we okay here? Well, this is tame compared to Jason and Harper sooo let's just go with it. It's stress relief. Yeah, Matt thought to himself. 

Matt resumed on Clarke’s legs, moving closer to her lower thighs, almost afraid of what Raven had schemed next. Clarke, now naked, just moaned into the pillow as Raven continued to hold onto her wrists. 

“She is going to lose all control when I get to her lower thighs,” Matt whispered. 

“Good! Clarke, I want you to scream my name when he gets there. Out loud. Repeatedly. Tell me how good it feels.” Raven whispered. “Otherwise, I take the pillow, and you have no escape.” 

Clarke came up for air and looked at Raven, “You both are monsters. Oh my God. I can’t even, I can’t, I can’t...” she trailed off as Matt’s hands got to her thighs. 

“RAVEN! I CAN”T! RAVEN! RAAAAVEN! LET ME GO! PLEASE!” Clarke screamed in agony as Matt worked her thighs over. “RAVEN! MAKE HIM STOP! AHHHHHHH!” 

“Oh my God she is really losing it,” Raven whispered. 

“Should we stop?” Matt whispered back. 

“PLEASE STOP! RAVEN! PLEASE STOP!” Clarke shrieked. There was no way the entire camp, plus Finn, could not hear her screams. Raven let go of her wrists and Clarke’s hands went down to grab Matt’s. She collapsed into the pillow and Matt relaxed his hands on her. 

Raven pulled Clarke’s head up gently, “Just breathe Clarke. Are you okay?” she whispered. 

Clarke nodded as Matt covered her up with the sleeping bag and stood up. 

These women are all crazy, Matt thought to himself.

“Was that fun Clarke?” Raven asked. 

“Oh my God, I can’t Raven. Please just tell me we are good. Please. And if we aren’t, tell me what you want, right now,” Clarke pleaded. 

Raven stroked Clarke’s hair. “We are good. You can go back to him if you want to, I don’t care. Whatever happens, we are good Clarke. I don’t blame you. I just wanted to embarrass you a little bit, and make him feel it. Matt, pick me up and let's head downstairs, while Clarke gets dressed.”

Matt started to walk towards Raven, but Clarke stopped him, “Matt, please hand me...my..clothes...” her voice trailed off as a look of fear took over as she looked at Raven in fear.

Raven laughed, “Wow Clarke, did you just say his name again? You are bad at this whole sex slave thing.”

Clarke just laid there as Raven waved at Matt, “Hey, kick the sleeping back top off of her.” 

“Raven please, I’m literally naked,” Clarke whispered. 

Matt was hesitating. “So what, he just massaged you while you were naked. Go ahead Matt,” Raven pressed him. He gave in and flipped it off of her body, looking away. This was getting a little too weird for him. 

“Come pick me up Matt, after you grab her clothes,” Raven whispered. 

“Uh okay,” Matt sighed, picking up Clarke’s clothes. He started to hand them to Clarke but Raven held her arm out. 

“Give them here,” Raven instructed. Matt sighed as he handed them to Raven, with Clarke looking on in fear. “Now let me crawl onto your back,” Raven whispered. 

Seeing where things were headed, Clarke pleaded with Raven, ‘Raven no! Please don’t take my clothes and leave me here naked! Please! Raven!” 

Matt had laid down on his stomach and Raven crawled onto him, as he stood up Raven looked down at Clarke. “I’m gonna let you have your clothes back Clarke, just remember I didn’t have to,” Raven finished, as she tossed Clarke her clothing. “Now say thank you.” 

“Thank you Raven,” Clarke whispered. 

Matt descended the ladder, leaving Clarke to finally get dressed. “You’re insane you know that right?” he whispered to Raven. 

“I’m just trying to fit in,” Raven whispered back. 

“100% successful.” Matt smiled. 

They got to the bottom and found an audience in Bellamy, Harper, Monty, and Miller. 

“Whats up guys?” Matt asked. 

“We uh, were standing guard while you three..did whatever it was you were doing up there,” Bellamy said. 

“Did we attract a crowd?” Matt asked. 

“The entire camp, and probably the grounders, could hear Clarke screaming for Raven. That must have been a mean massage,” Harper smiled. 

“Satisfied?” Matt asked over his shoulder.

“Absolutely,” Raven smiled. 

“Listen, I need a full update, but before that, is there anything pressing that I need to know, or can I go visit the cemetery first?” Matt asked. 

“The Ark missed the window, Monty has news, other than that, it can wait,” Bellamy replied. “Here is your sword,” Bellamy extended Matt’s sword.

“Raven? Can you grab it, my hands are full,” Matt turned so she could grab it, she wrapped it around her back. 

“Okay we will be back, give Clarke some space, we left her uh, just give her some time,” Matt finished. 

Matt walked down the ramp, the sun was out, it had already been an eventful morning, and it was now afternoon. 

“Before you get to thinking you are omnipotent, just know I have some power too,” Matt smiled. 

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Raven asked, genuinely curious. 

“Food delivery. FOX! Hey FOX! Got any food?” Matt shouted.

“Sure Matt!” Fox yelled back, running up with more meat. 

“Hand it to Raven would ya?” Matt smiled. 

“Hey Raven, uh, where is your slave?” Fox laughed as she handed the meat to Raven.

Raven laughed, “She is up there getting dressed, don’t worry, I will have her on her knees soon enough! Thanks for the food!” 

Camp Exodus, Welcome to the Insanity.

“This actually is a nice power,” Raven observed as she chewed on what was now her meat slab. 

“How about sharing a bit?” Matt laughed. Raven held the meat in front of him as he bit a piece off. It was surprisingly tender. They arrived at the gate. 

“Okay, let's be serious for a bit. And respectful. I don’t even know how many we lost,” Matt whispered. 

Raven was quiet as they rounded the corner into the cemetery. Matt counted the fresh graves. Thirteen of them. Eleven to the virus. Two to Murphy. 

“Thirteen...” Matt sighed. “We are down to 78.” He stood there in silence. 

“It's not your fault, Matt. You didn’t do this. Everyone was so afraid when you, Clarke, and Bellamy all had the virus. Most of them were standing vigil outside when we left to blow the bridge,” Raven whispered. 

“Eleven to the virus. There was nothing I could have done for them. But the other two...” Matt trailed off. 

“Murphy will pay Matt. One way or the other,” Raven sighed. Matt turned back towards the dropship. It was time to refocus on the task at hand, playing with Raven and Clarke was fun, but breaktime was over. He headed up the ramp as Clarke was coming down the ladder. She saw them coming and waited there. 

“Hey,” Matt started. Clarke just looked down. 

“Hey, Clarke. We just came from the cemetery. I can’t believe..” Matt tried again, but Clarke just fell to her knees crying. 

“Oh Matt, I let eleven of our people die, I was so scared I was going to lose you and Bellamy. I’m so glad you survived,” Clarke sobbed. 

Matt sighed. “Raven I am going to set you down on that table.” 

Raven nodded as Matt walked over and she crawled off of him and onto the table, as he turned around and went back to Clarke, standing her up and embracing her. 

“Clarke, those kids aren’t on you. You saved us all. You are okay. I know it's been a wild morning, but you are going to be okay. We are going to get through all of this, together,” Matt whispered to her. 

Clarke just held onto him, “Thank you Matt.” 

Matt led her over to the team and sat her down next to Raven, who took hold of her hand. “Okay, tell me about the Ark.” Matt started. 

“They reduced the battery charge from 48 to 29 hours, but it wasn’t enough to make the window. We are on our own for another day. The good news is, according to the bomb team, they took out plenty of grounders, so that will likely buy us another day. The bad news is, we were storing another bomb and some gunpowder upstairs, and we lost it when Murphy betrayed us,” Bellamy finished. 

“Okay, Monty? You had something?” Matt continued. 

“Yes. While I was boosting the radio signal, I discovered a jamming frequency. We are just out of range of it, but it's coming from the direction of Mt. Weather,” Monty replied. 

“What? Are you sure?” Matt asked, surprised. 

“Everyone asked that, yes, I’m sure. It's coming from that direction. I can’t say for certain its Mt. Weather, but it likely is,” Monty said. 

“What do you think that means for the dropships coming down?”

“Well, if they come within range of the jamming frequency, it could mess up their guidance system, and stop the parachutes from opening. We already informed the Ark, they are weighing their options. It's possible they might have to go with Plan B. Crash the Ark,” Monty finished. 

“Well shit,” Matt whispered. “Any success in making contact with the first dropship?” 

“Yeah, the Ark made contact with them, everyone is alive and accounted for. Miller’s dad, Stuart’s parents, Monroe’s parents all made it down. They are setting up a perimeter, trying to figure out the best way to get to us. They landed in a wooded area, similar to our own geography. No contact with any grounders yet, but it's going to be a tough hike. The Ark wants to land a dropship between the two of us to reduce the distance they have to travel. We are likely weeks away from seeing them,” Bellamy sighed. 

Matt sighed as well, “Anybody got anything else?”

“Yeah I got something,” Miller raised his hand. “Yesterday I nearly screwed up the de-escalation plan, just wanted to say I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” 

“It was an explosion!” Harper exclaimed, mockingly, causing the entire room to laugh. 

“Wow, well, at least you guys were smart enough to have a plan in place,” Matt chuckled. “Raven? How are we doing on ammo and gunpowder?” 

“Should have plenty left, we were only storing a small amount upstairs. We probably lost a few landmines and grenades, but I can make more. I’ll need Jasper’s help, if he isn’t already working on it,” Raven replied.

“He is, he has barely left that tent. He is trying to get back into the leadership team, specifically Matt’s, good graces. Should I tell him he is getting close?” Monty asked. 

“You can tell him he is doing a good job but there is no reason to lie to him,” Matt answered. “Continue to build up our defenses, keep morale up, be visible today. Maybe even mingle. We are down to 78 people. Every life matters. Monty, get the Ark back on the line, set up some time between the families and the kids down here, start with Harper’s dad. I’d like to talk to Pike as well. One last thing, there is a standing kill order on John Murphy. You see him, you shoot him. No questions asked. Okay, lets go address the group. I got Raven,” Matt waved them out. 

“Hey, Major Harper, wait back a moment?” Matt shouted. 

“Yeah Matt?” Harper asked. 

“Look, I’m sorry your father wasn’t on the first dropship, I know I promised you I would try to have him on it, it didn’t work out. At least you can talk to him today,” Matt sighed. 

Harper shook her head, “You didn’t owe me any of that Matt, but thank you.” 

“Thanks for being so understanding about it. Check on Clarke okay? She is really down,” Matt pressed. 

“Judging by those screams, I would question that,” Harper smiled. 

“I know her, and I know what she is feeling. Being isolated isn’t all it's cracked up to be, just make sure she is doing okay, please?” Matt finished. 

Harper nodded and headed out, as Matt let Raven crawl onto his back. “That was nice of you,” Raven whispered. 

“Spacewalker left a ton of wreckage behind him, and I am stuck cleaning it up,” Matt sighed. 

“And tonight you are going to sleep with two women at your side, while he sleeps alone. So who has it worse?” Raven whispered. 

“I’m sleeping with two women?” Matt stammered. 

“Yep. Just snuggling, don’t get any ideas,” Raven giggled. 

“So much for needing time huh?” Matt whispered. 

“I’ll have plenty of time later, for now, in this supercharged situation, I want someone I can rely on. And its nice having you carry me around,” Raven whispered. 

“Well, you do seem lighter today, maybe that bullet took some meat off ahhhhh,” Matt yelled out as Raven bit his ear. 

“Don’t forget I have your sword on my back,” Raven hissed. 

Matt grinned and walked to the ramp, where the group was starting to come together. 

“Okay, lets bring it in guys! Listen, I have some news. First of all, I know that yesterday was our worst day yet, we lost thirteen people, and it could have been more, if not for the valiant efforts of Raven, Miller, Harper, and Monty. Clarke and Octavia also worked incredibly hard to save as many lives as they could from the virus, including my own. So treat them well today. Also, the Ark missed another window, so we are still on our own until at least tomorrow. We are setting up time with our families today, so if you want to talk, form a line outside the dropship. Harper is first with her dad. 

“Additionally, the Ark made contact with the first dropship, and they are all alive and well. Miller, Monroe, and Stuart’s families were on it. We can’t talk to them, but we do know they are okay. We bought ourselves another day with the bridge bombing, but the grounders are still preparing an attack. Maintain a watch on the wall, and get plenty of rest. I know last night a lot of you were blowing off steam, but for Clarke, her ordeal carried over into the morning, you all probably heard her screaming, don’t be too hard on her, she had a lot of built up stress. I’m telling you to go easy on her, okay? She is having a rough time and its not her fault. Lastly, there is a standing kill order on John Murphy, for the murder of two kids yesterday. Two of our own people. If you see him, shoot on sight. And NO ONE LEAVES THE CAMP! Thats all!” Matt finished, as the group broke off to resume their tasks.

Clarke approached Matt and Raven, still looking down. “Thank you for asking them to go easy on me, I doubt they heed it, I was getting plenty of looks. And I think Octavia wants to ravage me tonight,” she sighed. 

“Well I have good news for you, you are sleeping with us tonight. No torture, no humiliation, just laying in each others arms. Okay?” Raven pressed. 

“Thank you, I accept,” Clarke whispered. 

“You have to get your confidence back up Clarke, I know Spacewalker hurt you, but he hurt Raven more, look at her, and she has a bullet hole in her ass and she is still the same super Raven. What do you think would help you?” Matt asked. 

“It's a long list. Not being under siege from grounders, not having a boy that lied to me, not being worried about assassins in the camp,” Clarke started. 

“I think we can scratch that last one off the list, but even if we do have that problem, like Raven said, you are with us tonight, you will be safe,” Matt offered. 

Clarke sighed. “Can I talk to my Mom today?” 

“Of course you can. Of course Clarke. You will be after Harper. And Clarke? Is Octavia having her way with you in bed really a bad thing?” Matt asked. 

Clarke sighed, “She looks at me with rage in her eyes, I can’t handle that right now.”

“I can understand that,” Matt sighed. “Okay, talk to your mom, and then come hang out with us. We will be around the fire.” 

Matt walked Raven over to the firepit where a bunch of kids were, including Fox. “Can we join you guys?” 

The kids made a spot for him as fast as humanly possible, as Matt let Raven crawl to the ground and lie on her stomach, taking his sword off of her and reattaching it to his back. Sitting down, Fox handed them both a piece of meat. 

“Thanks Fox. Who is this with you?” Matt asked. 

“Monroe and Stuart.” Fox answered. 

“Ah, your families were on the first dropship. It's going to be a while before we see them, but I’m glad they are okay. How are you two holding up?” Matt asked them. 

“We are good,” Stuart said, nervously. 

Matt looked at him, “What's wrong man? I don’t bite.” 

“I think Finn and Murphy would disagree,” Stuart replied, still nervous. 

“Well yeah, I am going to kill Murphy. You know he tried to hang me, and executed two of our own, right?” Matt pressed. 

“Yeah, I guess he has it coming,” Stuart relented. 

“Listen, it's okay to be scared of the grounders. You kids didn’t sign up for this, yet here you are, alive, contributing. We are going to get through this together. And we are going to kill a lot of grounders when the time comes. But one thing you don’t have to worry about, is me abandoning you, the way Murphy did. Okay?” Matt finished. 

“Yeah, okay,” sighed Stuart. 

“You are getting better at those words of encouragement I told you about,” Raven smiled. 

Matt waved her off, spotting Octavia heading towards the edge of camp, likely to her flowers. 

“Octavia! Come over here a moment!” Matt shouted at her. Hearing his voice, she turned and came his way. 

“Whats up Matt? It's not like you to mingle.” Octavia teased. 

“I don’t have anything else to do at the moment. I heard uh, you were pretty rough on Clarke last night,” Matt pressed. 

“Just trying to experience that adrenaline high, didn’t really work though, and before you start on me, I did feel guilty about taking it out on Clarke, and we made peace,” Octavia finished. “Also, I think someone else was harder on her this morning,” she offered, looking at Raven. 

“It was directed at someone else,” Raven shrugged. 

“He got the message, he is still sulking in his tent, I think he is expecting Clarke to come back to him,” Octavia whispered. 

“Ever the idiot.” Matt laughed. “Listen Octavia, if Clarke comes back your way, which she might, your rage scares her, okay? I think she is looking for that kind of stress relief, but you have to be nice to her. The physical attraction is definitely there, your persona is keeping her away. She doesn’t want any guys at the moment, so the window is open. Honestly, if you just walk up to her tomorrow, take her hand, and lead her to your tent, she will be there,” Matt smiled. 

“Wow Matt, you want to put her on the spot or what?” Raven asked. 

“Oh please. Stuart? What do you think of Octavia?” Matt laughed. 

“She is fucking hot, but scary, and her brother has a wall around her,” Stuart replied, nervously. 

“Yeah, I don’t swing that way, but Octavia is hot, I don’t know how she keeps her hair that good,” Monroe sighed. 

Matt held his hands out, “Anything to add Fox?” 

Fox looked up, “I’d fuck Octavia.” 

“I think that about covers it. Octavia, head out to your flowers,” Matt laughed. 

Octavia darted away, smiling and shaking her head. 

“Wow Matt. I don’t know what to say,” Raven shook her head. 

“Clarke needs it. After yesterday, the stress is at an all-time high. I guarantee you every kid right now is thinking about tonight’s after hours activities. These two,” motioning to Stuart and Monroe, “are definitely going to hook up. I’m sure Fox will find someone as well,” Matt sighed. 

“Thanks for the food guys, Raven and I are going to check on Jasper,” Matt knelt down and Raven crawled onto his back.

“Ugh, your sword,” Raven groaned. 

“It's a short walk. Next time I will remember to take it off first,” Matt smiled and walked over to Raven’s ammo tent. Heading in, Jasper was working on the gunpowder. 

“Hey Jasper, how is our ammo situation?” Matt asked. 

“Oh hey Matt, its uh, it's good. We have about 300 rounds. We lost some gunpowder to Murphy yesterday, but we still have a good bit left. Can Raven stay and help with the land mines and grenades, I really don’t want to blow myself up,” Jasper stammered. 

“Yeah, that okay with you Mecha Station?” Matt asked her. 

“Yeah, of course, lay me down on the ground, since there isn’t anywhere else.”

Jasper laid a blanket down and Matt lowered Raven onto it. She crawled off of him and flopped down. 

“Not gonna lie, it's nice being carried around, but the dismounting and the inability to sit is starting to suck,” Raven sighed, pointing at Matt, “No jokes.” 

Matt just smiled, “I didn’t say a word. Hey Raven, is it um, is it always this nice, having someone around?” 

Raven looked up at him, “Yeah Matt, it is. How long before you think the grounders attack?” 

“Tomorrow night for sure,” Matt sighed. 

“I guess we should party hard tonight then, huh?” Raven asked. 

“Uh, yeah. Yea I guess so,” Matt whispered. 

She just smiled, “Go on get out of here.” 

He headed out, looking for Bellamy. He saw Clarke standing at the bottom of the dropship ramp, with a few kids behind her, waiting to talk to their families. 

Bellamy was sitting by a fire with Miller, and Matt walked up and joined them. 

“Whats going on?” Matt asked. 

“Everyone is either working or taking it easy, except for Finn, he is still sulking in Clarke’s tent,” Bellamy replied. 

“That guy’s window of opportunity to be a trusted, useful member of this community slammed shut the second he slept with Clarke. He did take an arrow to the shoulder two days ago, but it's not like he was doing anything before that. Hopefully when the Ark gets down here I can transfer him out of sight, forever,” Matt sighed. 

“Amen to that,” Miller chimed in. 

“Listen, I am working on getting Clarke back up to full capacity, she has had a rough few days, on top of her relationship problems. I could use your blessing, of sorts,” Matt grinned. 

“Do I look like a relationship counselor? Just tell her to come by my tent tonight I will make her forget about Finn,’ Bellamy laughed. 

“That might just happen. Or it might be Octavia’s tent,” Matt laughed. 

“You serious? Clarke and O?” Bellamy stared at him. “O doesn’t swing that way, you know that right?” 

“Yeah, but I honestly don’t think that matters to Clarke. They slept in the same tent last night, but nothing happened. Octavia was too aggressive and scared Clarke away. I told her to go easy next time, and she more or less agreed to. Don’t try to break that up, okay? I know you have built a wall around Octavia to keep the guys away, but Clarke needs to pass through it, unimpeded,” Matt smiled. 

Bellamy sighed. “Grounders are coming to kill us, and you are playing matchmaker. That's a long way from Jason and Harper. But I gotta say, Octavia doesn't swing that way. Not even a little. Make sure Clarke knows that going in.” 

“Copy that,” Matt replied, shaking his head. “This is the last bit of energy I am going to expend on the subject. If Clarke isn’t right by tomorrow morning, she is on her own.” 

They sat in silence for a bit, watching the fire. 

“Changing the subject, how's it going with you Miller?” Matt asked. 

“I’m good, just want the grounders to attack already. I’m going to talk to the families of the kids that died today, I told Roma’s parents she didn’t make it. It was rough,” Miller sighed. 

“Wow thanks for handling that. I didn’t even think about it. I feel kinda bad about knowing their names,” Matt whispered. “Let me know if you need any help.” 

“Thanks, I got it. I will also let you know if any more explosions occur,” Miller deadpanned. 

Matt and Bellamy burst out laughing. “I think its going to be a while before Harper lets you live that one down” Matt laughed, looking at Bellamy. “It was a good idea to have a plan in place with the leadership team for that kind of situation.”

“Sorry for going around your back, but after what happened on the first night, Clarke and I thought it would be a good idea to have a plan to deal with that kind of situation, stop it before it gets too off the rails,” Bellamy smiled. 

“Things seem to go off the rails here on a constant basis,” Matt sighed. 

“Amen to that!” Miller shouted again. 

Clarke was approaching them, it looked like she had been crying, but she also looked better, walking with more confidence. Miller took that as a cue.

“I better get on with those conversations,” he whispered, standing up. “Hey Clarke, you can take my spot, I’m going to talk to the Ark.”

“Hey Miller, thanks,” Clarke responded, sitting down in the spot Miller had just vacated. 

Bellamy looked at her, “You doing alright?” 

“Yeah, thanks for asking,” she replied. 

“Well, I’m going to make some rounds, I’ll see you two in a bit,” Bellamy finished, standing to leave, they nodded as he left. 

Matt and Clarke sat in silence for a bit, continuing to watch the fire burn. 

“You talk to your Mom?” Matt asked. 

“Yeah, it felt good. I cried, a lot. But it felt good,” Clarke sighed, standing up and moving to sit next to Matt. “Scoot over,” she whispered. He did. She took hold of his arm and laid her head against his shoulder. “Thank you so much for helping me through this nightmare Matt. I should have..I should have appreciated you more.” 

“We are all in this together Clarke. You are vital to our survival. And you deserve better than what you have been dealt down here,” Matt whispered. “I know I drifted away from you, but after that first night, I didn’t feel like I could be close to anybody. It was even before that, it was probably when I killed Shumway and Perez, I realized I was doing this on my own,” Matt whispered. 

“You know you were completely wrong about that, right? You have never been on your own,” Clarke whispered back. 

“I see that now, yeah. It still feels..weird, for other people to care about me so much. I never thought anyone other than my Mom would love me, but apparently, a lot of people here do,” Matt sighed. 

Clarke just held on to him, staying quiet. She finally whispered, “I’m not about to get caught up in another love triangle Matt. And I know you aren’t interested in one night stands, but do you know what Raven is planning for us tonight?” 

“Absolutely no idea. I’m trying to get you out of it though, Octavia has agreed to take better care of you tonight, and..so has Bellamy..” Matt trailed off. 

“Oh my God,” Clarke giggled. “All of a sudden you are a matchmaker? That's a long way from Jason and Harper.” 

“Wow, thats exactly what Bellamy said, word for word. Maybe you two do have a connection,” Matt laughed. 

“MATT! Pike is ready for you!” Miller shouted from a distance. 

“My hero,” Matt whispered. 

He stood up, Clarke joined him. “Wait Matt,” she whispered, as she gave him a big hug. “Thanks again for your support. Whatever happens tonight, I’m happy for you and Raven. I’m sure whatever she has planned, won’t involve me coming between you two.” 

“After this morning Clarke, I wouldn’t underestimate her. How are your legs feeling anyway?” Matt smiled. 

“They feel amazing Matt, and yes, that was humiliating. But I will be there regardless. I’ll see you later,” Clarke finished, and turned towards Raven’s tent, not even looking at her old tent. He made his way toward the ramp, spotting Jasper scurrying out of Raven’s tent. 

Great, those two in the same tent...I don’t even want to think about it. As long as they both come out of it alive, Matt sighed.

He passed the kids in line, assuring them he wouldn’t take long. They didn’t seem to mind at all. Flopping down in the chair, he took his sword off and threw it on the table while putting the headset on. 

“Pike, how's it going?” Matt started. 

“Things are getting a bit crazy up here, they are scrambling to get down there as fast as possible, now we are being told the entire Ark could be making the trip. How's it going down there Matt?” Pike asked. 

“Bad. It's bad Pike. The grounders sent a virus in to weaken us, it killed thirteen kids, infecting a lot of others, including me. I was lucky to survive it. We are down to 78 people. I expect the grounders to come kill us all tomorrow night. Just overwhelm us with sheer numbers. I don’t think any of us will survive,” Matt sighed. 

Pike stared at him through the video feed. “Jesus Matt, you can’t lose hope man.” 

“I’m not, we are determined to kill as many grounders as we can, we have about 300 or so bullets, land mines, grenades, and one rocket ship. But the numbers are what they are. This is what the Ark sent us down here to do. Confirm the Earth was survivable, then die. We accomplished the primary objective, now all that's left to do is die,” Matt shrugged. 

“No one up here wants you kids to die Matt, you just have to hold on until we can get down there. What happened to the first dropship? They didn’t link up with you?” Pike urged. 

“Oh man, they didn’t even go public with that huh? No Pike, the first dropship missed us by 350 miles. They made it down safely, made contact with the Ark, but they are weeks away. By the time they get here, all they will have to do is bury our bodies. That's why they were scrambling to get another ship ready, but they failed. No one is coming to help us,” Matt sighed. 

“So what? What are you guys doing about it? What is the Ark doing about it?” Pike pressed. 

“Well I have no idea what the Ark is doing, but I do think the entire structure will be coming down, soon. But not soon enough. As for us? Well, the camp knows whats coming, there was a lot of sex last night, there will be a lot more tonight. Everyone wants their last night on Earth to be memorable. Plans are even being made for me, I guess,” Matt shrugged. 

“Matt you have to keep them focused. If they can survive the attack, we can make it down there,” Pike continued to push. 

“They are just kids Pike. They are mentally exhausted. Everyday has been insane. Are they scared? Absolutely. But they are also done with it. One more night of fun, then it's over. Our defenses are built up as much as they can be, all that's left to do is wait for the dying to start. I have a last ditch plan to repel the attack, but it will only work once, after that it's over. If the Ark doesn’t get reinforcements down here within 24 hours, they might as well not even show up,” Matt sighed. 

“Okay Matt. Just hold out a little longer, okay man? I will see you soon,” Pike finished. 

“May we meet again, Pike,” Matt signed off, standing to leave, putting his sword on his back again. The finality of it all was beginning to wear on him. But he wasn’t going to stop working, as he headed for Raven’s tent. 

“Yo! Coming in Mecha Station. How's it going?” Matt shouted. 

“Hey Matt,” Clarke greeted him. “We are plotting out how our evening is going to go with you.” 

“Greeaaaat. Yeah. Can’t wait,” Matt replied, sheepishly. He had forgotten Clarke had come to see Raven. 

“Relax dummy. It's going to be fun for all of us,” Raven laughed. 

“I bet. Focusing on the here and now, Raven, how did the wiring go underneath the dropship? Can we blast off?” Matt asked. 

“Not yet, no. I forgot about that. It will be hard to get down there as I am now. We are gonna need Jasper. Maybe Clarke too,” Raven admitted. 

“Alright, Clarke can you go get Jasper while I carry Raven over there?” Matt finished. 

“Sure thing Matt,” Clarke replied, hopping up. She seemed to be doing a lot better. Or maybe she was just going with it the same way Matt and Raven were. Two days to live. Might as well pretend to enjoy it. 

As Raven crawled onto his back, he couldn’t stop thinking about their weird situation. 

“Hey Raven?” Matt started.

“Yeah Matt?” Raven asked, curiously. 

“Are we..together? Or are we just going with it like these are our last two days to live?” he pressed. 

Raven pressed her head against the back of his. “The rules kind of went out the window when the Ark sent you guys down here to die. It's like they floated the relationship handbook,” she sighed. 

Matt just stood there and waited. 

“That didn’t do it for you huh?” Raven whispered. 

“No,” Matt admitted. 

“You want clarity before we go off the rails tonight, don’t you?” she pressed. 

“I..just want clarity. I’m..ready for this.. As long as it's real,” Matt admitted. 

“Its real Matt. Okay? It's real. If we survive the battle, if we join up with the Ark, I’m not moving out of your sleeping bag,” Raven finished. 

“At some point, I will upgrade our living situation,” Matt smiled. “Have to do something about that damn draft.”

Raven laughed as they headed out towards the dropship. 

“Hey Matt?” Raven asked him. “It's my turn for a serious question.”

“What is it?” Matt looked at her. 

“Have you talked to..your father?” she asked, holding onto him tighter as he scowled. 

“Nope. Nothing to say to him,” Matt finished. 

Raven pressed her head against his again. “Don’t you want to tell him you hate him one last time?” 

“Which one of us needs to work on our words of encouragement again?” Matt grinned. 

“I’m just saying, I think you should talk to him. I won’t bring it up again, I promise,” Raven whispered. 

“I love promises, if you haven’t heard,” Matt whispered back. 

“I have heard that,” Raven sighed. 

Matt let out his own sigh as he set her down next to the dropship where they crawled under last time. Clarke and Jasper were already there, looking at the wiring. “I’ll leave you to it,” Matt whispered. 

“I’ve got this Matt. Think about what I said,” Raven whispered back.

Matt tried to focus on anything else, but Raven had gotten into his head about Kane, and now it was all he could think about. Letting out a sigh, he went and joined the other kids in line. He didn’t even know what he wanted to say. 


	26. Preparing for Battle

About two hours had passed, Matt was next in line to talk to Kane. Fox had brought him another piece of meat and a drink, which he had accepted and finished already. Every kid had offered to let him go in front of them, but he turned them all down. This wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to, and he had already cut the line once to talk to Pike. He had urged them not to worry about the line and take as much time as they wanted, he didn’t want to go any farther than that, but they seemed to have gotten the message. 

The kid that had been in front of him came out and walked back into camp, and Matt headed up the ramp. Once again flopping down and tossing his sword on the table with a clang, he signed on with Marcus Kane, his least favorite person in the universe. 

“Hello Matt, I didn’t think you would want to speak to me,” Kane started. 

“I don’t, but, this will probably be our last conversation, so, other people thought it would be a good idea for me to tell you one last time how much of an asshole you are,” Matt responded. 

“Well, hopefully you can tell me in person in two days Matt,” Kane replied. 

Matt scoffed, “Kane in two days, everyone in this camp will be cold and dead from the grounder attack. You sent us down to die, and we are about to fulfill our mission.” 

“Is the situation that bad?” Kane asked. 

“Kane it's always been this bad. What part of that message didn’t get through to you when we first made contact? We are down to 78 people. 13 died yesterday, and the rest of us will follow them tomorrow. Mission accomplished. Go Team Exodus,” Matt sighed. This was going about how he expected. 

“Matt, if there is any possibility that Camp Exodus can hold out, I know you will find it,” Kane pressed. 

“Well thanks Kane, I’m doing my best, but the fact is, there are thousands of them, and 78 of us. We have some ideas to inflict mass casualties on their side, but even if we somehow drive off the first, and even second wave, I anticipate massive casualties on our side as well. It will be relatively simple for them to just come in and mop up,” Matt sighed. 

“Matt, tomorrow night we are going to crash the Ark,” Kane sighed. 

“What? Are you out of dropships?” Matt asked. 

“No, but the systems are continuing to fail, and with your situation down there, combined with the jamming signal, we don’t feel we can wait weeks to send all the dropships. Each one takes two full days to charge, and draining the Ark’s power to accelerate the charge did more harm than good. So, tomorrow night we will launch one drop ship, then bring the entire Ark down. At best, I am hoping for a 75% success rate, but I anticipate hundreds will die when the stations break apart during reentry,” Kane finished. 

“Kane,” Matt sighed. “There is no reason to expedite Project Exodus on account of us. We aren’t going to make it.”

“I don’t believe that son. I believe in your strength, I have personally felt it. You are going to survive, and we are going to link up with you in two days. Also, Chancellor Jaha has elected to be the one that stays behind and launch the Ark manually, so..he has declared that his powers shall pass to..you Matt,” Kane pressed. 

“What? No way, I can’t be the Chancellor, I’m still only 16. The people wouldn’t stand for it,” Matt waved him off. 

“Are there any other reasons you think you can’t be Chancellor?” Kane asked. 

“Well I hate the title, I’ll be dead in two days, no one would follow me, it's just not realistic, the list goes on,” Matt said dismissively. 

“I’ll wait for the rest of the list,” Kane said flatly. 

“Hey Kane? I hate your guts, you know that? You are an asshole,” Matt shot back. 

“Lets skip to the end of this topic son. The Chancellor wants you to accept his offer, if you decline it, his powers will pass to me. Are you declining?”

SHIT SHIT SHIT. 

Matt let out a deep sigh. “You make a compelling argument. I accept. But I doubt I survive this upcoming battle.”

“I’ve just given you the best possible reason to, son,” Kane reminded him. 

“Another compelling argument. Alright Kane, I will see you in two days. Try not to die on your way down so I can personally kill you,” Matt signed off. Grabbing his sword, he let out another deep sigh and stomped out. 

Raven was there waiting for him, lying on her stomach. She looked up, “Hey. You okay?”

Matt was surprised to see her, “What are you doing here?”

Raven shot him a look. “You need to learn that support goes both ways Matt Kane. You think I would make you talk to your father and then not be here for you after? Pick me up.”

Matt didn’t argue as he crouched down and let Raven crawl onto his back. “Here, take the sword for a moment,” he whispered to her, handing it to her. 

“Okay, walk me around while you tell me what went down with Kane,” Raven whispered into his ear. 

Matt turned around and walked back up the dropship ramp, heading up the ladder.

“Um where are you taking me?” Raven stammered. 

“Upstairs for a sec,” Matt replied. 

He made it up the ladder and laid down in the sleeping bag, while Raven crawled off of him. “I know you have plans for tonight, I just needed a quick detour,” Matt whispered as he rolled onto his side to face her. 

“Sure Matt, whats up?” Raven asked. 

“You said the relationship rulebook got floated, everyday down here feels like a week. This is the first day, which, knock on wood, that has been seemingly normal. So, I just want to ask you, and you can say no, have we waited long enough to kiss?” Matt whispered. 

Raven sighed, “That is the least romantic pickup line uttered in the last 97 years, you know that right? Get over here you idiot.” 

Matt leaned in and kissed Raven, holding on for a good bit of time. They finally broke apart. “What's gotten into you Matt?” Raven whispered to him. 

Matt sighed, “Kane gave me a really good reason to survive, and I felt bad about it because the fact is, I have had one all along, I was just resigned to the fact that I was going to die tomorrow night. But now, after kissing you, I feel even more determined to live.”

“Wow Matt, you uttered the least romantic and the most romantic pickup lines in back to back sentences. I don’t even know what to say to that. Let's get out of here, you are going to ruin my plans for tonight,” Raven laughed. 

Matt rolled over and let her crawl onto his back, and they descended the ladder, walking out into the camp. 

“Lets make some rounds, while I tell you some stories,” Matt whispered. 

“Wherever you want to go,” Raven whispered back. 

They walked around the camp, Fox handed Raven another piece of meat, and they were chewing on it. 

“Jaha is dying tomorrow night,” Matt started with a whisper.

“Really? How?” Raven stammered. 

“They are going to launch one more dropship, then crash the Ark, Jaha has to stay behind and launch manually,” Matt continued. 

“Wow. So your father is going to be Chancellor?” Raven stammered again. 

“Only if I die tomorrow night in the battle, which, I still think is a high likelihood,” Matt whispered. 

“Wait, what? Jaha wants you to succeed him?” Raven kept stammering. 

“Yep,” Matt finished, as Raven fed him a slice of meat. 

“Wow, Chancellor Matt Kane,” Raven whispered. “Doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Doesn’t sound great either,” Matt muttered. 

“Matt, everyone heard your amazing speech, you were born for this. Sure, it was still supposed to be years away from happening, but so was Project Exodus. You can do it, with me at your side, we will be unstoppable,” Raven laughed. 

“I’m going to miss carrying you around like this, once you are walking around again,” Matt sighed. 

“The sex will make up for it,” Raven bit his ear again. 

“Ow Ow! You are direct, aren’t you?” Matt stammered. “This feels like we are moving so much faster than normal people do.”

“I told you, the relationship handbook got floated. How long have we been down here? How much has happened in that time? It's insane. Speaking of that, it's finally time you told me what the hell happened with you on your first night,” Raven whispered. 

Matt sighed. “Okay, but it's quite a story. It's going to make what we did to Clarke this morning seem like absolutely nothing Raven. Also, don’t treat Harper any differently, that's the most important part. She is on the leadership team for a reason.” 

“That's quite a buildup, I thought we got Clarke pretty good this morning, you are saying that was nothing?” Raven stammered. 

“Less than nothing Raven,” Matt sighed. “Here goes.” 

Matt told the story again. Harper seducing him, Jason trying to kill him, Matt killing Jason, Matt cutting Jason’s head off, hanging Harper from a tree, the codeword, Bellamy’s part, Clarke’s part, making Harper dig the hole, throwing Harper in the hole, letting Harper go, Clarke confronting him, the codeword again, Matt boiling over again, Clarke bringing him back down, reconciling with Harper. They took two laps around the camp by the time Matt finished. Raven was very quiet the whole time. She stayed quiet as Matt paced around in silence. 

“Wow Matt, that buildup fell utterly short of the depth of that story,” Raven whispered. 

“It's impossible to compare anything that has happened since then to that night,” Matt sighed. “I cut that kid’s head off like it was nothing. I felt nothing afterwards. I still feel nothing about it. If that scares you away Raven, I get it. I know what I am. Now you do too,” Matt finished. 

Raven pressed her head against his again, “Matt, I cannot believe that Shumway used your mother’s name as a codeword for assassinating you. That has to be the most evil, twisted thing I have ever heard of, and I grew up on the Ark. It's so terrible. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“It sent me over the edge twice. I lost all control. I’ve managed to keep the adrenaline in check since that night, because nothing has come close to enraging me the way hearing my mother’s name did. Its why all this energy being wasted on ‘relationship issues’ has frustrated me so much, I’m dealing with something like THAT, and everyone else is wondering who they are fucking tonight. And I’m sorry if that offends you Raven, I’m not trying to downplay what happened to mmph,” Matt was cut off by Raven’s hand over his mouth. 

“You’re right Matt, its fucking stupid. Its so stupid I can’t believe it. Death has surrounded us since the first day, and you have fought it off constantly, while we try to figure out who we are fucking. Now it's coming for us one last time, and I am going to make sure we are at our absolute best for it. I also completely understand why Bellamy and Clarke stressed direct confrontations don’t work,” Raven sighed. 

“Does that mean I’m not sleeping with two women tonight?” Matt whined. 

“Oh no, it doesn’t mean that at all, I told you you would have fun and you will. I..will make sure of it. Since you don’t do promises,” Raven laughed. 

Clarke approached them. “Hey guys, Jasper and I finished, the dropship should be good to go, are you two enjoying your walk?” 

“Wellll….” Matt started. 

“Matt told me about Jason and Harper,” Raven deadpanned. 

“Oh..” Clarke stammered. 

“I thought this morning was pretty off the rails, now I realize how tame it was. Don’t worry though Clarke, tonight is still on,” Raven laughed. 

“Right...” Clarke stammered. 

“I’ve got real news, so let's get the group together, then head to sleep. Tomorrow we lay the land mines and prepare for war,” Matt sighed. 

Heading to the dropship ramp, Matt assembled the group. 

“Okay! Bring it in guys! I’ve got news! Gather around! Leadership team on me!” Matt shouted. 

Everyone came running up, even Finn stood at the very back.

“Okay, so the Ark is sending another dropship tomorrow night. Then they are crashing the Ark down behind them. Everyone is coming down at once. It will be a violent reentry, but it's the only way. There will be casualties. Also, the grounders likely attack tomorrow, so we lay land mines, and prepare for war. Enjoy your evening, this will be the last peaceful day for a while. Lastly, Chancellor Jaha will not be making the trip. He has chosen to bestow his powers..onto me, should we live through tomorrow. It's not a responsibility I want, or asked for, but it beats the alternative,” Matt continued, but was interrupted. 

“It's true, the grounders attack tomorrow at dusk, Lincoln told me. They plan to slaughter us all,” Octavia huffed, as she had come running up.

“Well they are in for a rude awakening, because they are marching their people to slaughter. We are going to survive this! These people are primitive, they might be seasoned fighters, but we have superior technology! Guns, grenades, mines, and a rocketship! Don’t be scared! We have time! We will survive! That's all, have a good night!” Matt finished. 

Grabbing Octavia, Matt whispered, “You are sure your intel is solid?”

Octavia nodded. 

“Okay, listen, we are moving your potential date up with Clarke to tonight, okay? Be nice to her if she shows. Maybe a blindfold? She really doesn’t want to see your rage Octavia,” Matt pressed. 

“This is a priority right now?” Octavia exclaimed. 

“Unbelievable as it is, yes,” Matt sighed. “These kids need to blow off steam before facing death. Clarke as much as anyone. And it lets you be a Queen, okay? Just go with it. If she shows up,” Matt finished. 

Octavia nodded and ran off. 

“Okay, leadership team? Does anyone have anything?” Matt asked. 

“Jaha isn’t making the trip?” Monty asked.

“And he is making you his successor?” Harper followed. 

“Is that even allowed?” Miller asked. 

Silence followed, Bellamy and Clarke didn’t seem to care as they were eyeing each other. 

“Anybody else?” Matt laughed. More silence. “The answer is yes to all. Enjoy your evening.” 

They broke up, Clarke whispered something to Bellamy and then turned to join Matt and Raven. “Okay, take me upstairs Matt, Clarke will follow, then you come back down until we call you up,” Raven commanded. 

Matt sighed. “Okay, I’m just going with it.” He climbed the ladder, let Raven crawl off him, and headed back down as Clarke went up. He genuinely had no idea what Raven was planning. He just hoped he could enjoy himself and maybe even blow off some of his own stress. 

“Matt?” Raven called out a few minutes later. “Come on up and join us.” 

Matt closed the dropship ramp and headed up the ladder, no sense in letting any partycrashers get in. He arrived upstairs and found Raven and Clarke lying on their stomachs, Raven’s bandage still covering her ass, but nothing else. Clarke was equally naked, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Raven. 

“Come lay on your stomach between us,” Raven whispered. Matt tossed his sword aside and laid down in between them. “Tie his hands Clarke.” 

Clarke started to tie his hands behind his back, as Matt just stared into Raven’s eyes. “Ahh!” Matt winced as Clarke tightened the ropes, he wasn’t getting free. 

“Clarke is going to spend some time with the both of us, then she is gonna head out. Clarke? Go on, make out with him. Aggressively, while I watch,” Raven smiled. 

Clarke first pulled his pants off then rolled him over on his back, it wasn’t comfortable with his hands tied, but Clarke didn’t ask as she aggressively pounced on him, kissing him aggressively, grabbing onto his leg at first, all Matt could do was struggle to breath and hold on. Clarke was relentless as she continued to kiss him. 

“Having fun Matt?” Raven laughed. “Clarke is really hot, isn’t she?” Raven reached over and grabbed Clarke’s ass as she continued to be all over Matt. She moved her hands up Clarke’s body and rubbed her back. “Come over to me Clarke, I’m next.” 

Clarke dismounted Matt and rolled over on her back, as Raven crawled on top of her and started kissing her just as aggressively. Matt could only watch as his hands were tied. Raven pinned Clarke’s hands down as they continued to kiss, as Raven offered her neck and Clarke obliged her. 

“Mmm thank you Clarke, you can go now, enjoy your evening with whomever you choose,” Raven climbed off of her and onto Matt, as Clarke rose and pulled her underwear on, grabbing her clothes and headed down the ladder without a word. Matt heard the ramp lower and they were all alone. “Told you it would be fun, having our own little sex slave. Now it's just us,” Raven whispered as she started to aggressively kiss Matt. 

“I want you Matt, but you have to take it easy on me, I had Clarke just touch my ass and it hurt. You have to take it easy, understand?” Raven whispered. 

“Untie me and I can,” Matt whispered back. 

Raven nodded and rolled Matt over and untied his hands. “Real quick, and then it's just you and me babe, who do you think she went to see?” Matt whispered. 

“Honestly, I think she will sleep with both of them or neither of them. Clarke needs it, she wasn’t acting just now, she wanted you. I can tell these things,” Raven smiled. “But she also wants it to be real, like you. Making out is fine with her, but anything past that has to be real. I made sure we didn’t cross any lines. Whatever happens next is up to her. She might even come back and snuggle with us in an hour or so. The best thing for Clarke right now is kindness.” 

“I barely even saw her,” Matt whispered. 

“You know just what to say,” Raven smiled as she got his underwear off. “Remember Matt, take it easy. I’m on top.” 

“As always.”

“You know just want to say,” Raven smiled. 

A few hours passed, and Matt heard the hatch open. He woke up and immediately reached for his sword, but Clarke’s voice stopped him. 

“Matt it's me! It's Clarke!” she whispered. 

Matt couldn’t see very well, but he could make out Clarke’s silhouette, her hands up, and he relaxed. “Are you okay Clarke?” he whispered. 

“Yes, may I..please sleep here?” she whispered. Matt could see a little more clearly, and Clarke was in her underwear still. 

“Sure, try not to wake Raven. Lie down here, I’ve got you,” Matt whispered. Clarke nested in with them, putting her arm across Matt’s chest and staring up at him. 

“Thank you Matt. I...” Clarke stopped. 

“It's okay Clarke, you don’t have to say anything. Let's just go to sleep,” Matt whispered. 

“Thank you,” she finished. 

Raven stirred a little bit, as she took Clarke’s hand, and they fell asleep. 


	27. The Battle of Camp Exodus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes season 1. Hope you enjoy it!

Day 10

Matt could feel the breeze blowing in on him again, it felt a little stronger. He slowly began to wake up. The breeze continued to get stronger until he opened his eyes to see both Clarke and Raven smiling at him, as they blew into his face. 

“Is this a dream?” Matt whispered. 

“If it is, it's the best damn dream you have ever had,” Raven whispered back. 

“You both look amazing,” Matt smiled, as he pulled them both closer. 

“When did Clarke come back?” Raven asked. 

Matt shrugged. “Some point last night, maybe an hour after, maybe two. She spooked me a little bit, but I welcomed her in, like you said. 

“Do you need anything Clarke?” Raven offered. 

“No, I’m good,” Clarke whispered, as she leaned in and kissed Matt on the cheek, then turned to Raven and offered her a kiss, which Raven accepted. “Thank you both for making me feel alive again. I felt like there was a hole in my heart, and I wasn’t..wanted anymore. Which I know is silly, every boy out there would welcome me into their tent with open arms. But it's not the same. Matt is right, it has to mean something. Sure, Bellamy is avoiding all possible drama by just taking them in and sending them out, but I need more. That's why I came back here. Here I feel welcome. I feel loved.” 

“Wow that was intense, can we just go back to kissing?” Matt stammered. 

“You are such a guy, but if you really want to, yes, we can go back to kissing,” Raven laughed. “Clarke, go to it.”

Without hesitating, Clarke pounced on him, kissing him then biting his lip. 

“Ahhhh!!” Matt yelled as Clarke feasted on the blood. “You demon!” Matt winced as she let go, laughing. 

“Women like to talk after sex Matt,” Raven scolded him. “You have to learn to listen.”

“Did Clarke even have sex last night?” Matt demanded. 

Clarke answered him with a slap across his face, sending blood onto Raven. “Do you want to bleed even more?” Clarke challenged. 

Matt put his hands up, “Okay okay, let's talk then. Clarke? How much of that was real last night? Or were you just role playing?”

Clarke laid down on top of Matt, and whispered, “Even though we scripted it out, it was 100% real Matt, I told Raven in her tent, I have a huge regret with you. On our first day down here, I didn’t see through your act. Of course I didn’t know you had just killed two people and were on an adrenaline high, but it was still an act. You were looking to push me away, and I let you. I should have fought for you, we had a connection in the skybox, and I let you sever it at the first opportunity. I regret that. I think about how different things would be if I had just fought to stay by your side. I never even look at Finn, Raven comes down and they are happy together, and you and I are together. That crazy first night never happens.”

“Oh God, can we go back to bleeding?” Matt sighed. Clarke and Raven just smiled.

“She did surprise me though,” Raven chimed in. “She got fully naked, I said she could stay in her underwear, but she went all the way. She was smoking.”

Clarke shot Raven a look, ”It didn’t even matter, he didn’t look at me. He isn’t looking at me now, and I’m sitting on top of him in my underwear, ‘smoking’, and he is still all about you Raven.” 

Matt smiled and did look at Clarke, who seemed to just be on fire, and put his hands on her thighs, rubbing her legs.

“Listen Clarke, you are right, I was looking to push you away. But if Harper doesn’t move on me, she moves on Bellamy, and Bellamy probably dies on the first night, and neither of us are wise to Harper and Jason, leaving them free to plot against us. I’m just saying, things happen for a reason,” Matt whispered. 

“You know you are acting right now, right Matt?” Raven whispered. 

“Uh, what?” Matt stammered. 

“It's true, you always put this wall up whenever your feelings come up, but I know you still care about me. You care about all of us, the first thing you did yesterday was visit the cemetery with Raven, I saw how the graves affected you. You don’t learn their names to avoid attachment, but you want to save them. And you will Matt,” Clarke whispered.

“Okay, we are going back to bleeding!” Matt exclaimed as he pulled Clarke up close to him and bit her lower lip. 

“Ow ow! Let go!” Clarke gasped. 

Matt let her go without breaking her skin, but he left his blood on her. She sat up and slapped him again, sending blood on Raven, again. 

“Can you PLEASE slap the OTHER cheek, Clarke!” Raven shouted.

They all just shared a laugh, knowing it was time to go. Wiping the blood off her face, Raven started to get dressed, but realized there was no way to get her bottoms back on. “Clarke, can you help me get dressed?” 

“Sure,” Clarke whispered, as Matt looked on, Clarke helped Raven get her pants back on, then stood to get dressed herself. Matt was last, as he just got his pants on, since he hadn’t seen a shirt in a few days. Grabbing his sword and handing it to Raven, he crouched down and she crawled onto his back. 

“Everyone good?” Matt asked. Both girls nodded. “Hey Clarke, just so you know, you are always welcome here. You are loved, okay?” 

“Oh..thanks Matt,” Clarke stammered. 

“He actually can be truly romantic when he wants to be,” Raven smiled. 

“Let's not focus on the fact we are all dying tonight! Woo!” Matt exclaimed. 

“Annnnd right back to being an idiot,” Raven rolled her eyes. 

“Wait. I do. I do love you both,” Clarke whispered. 

Raven looked back at her, “We love you too Clarke. We are all going to make it through this, together.” 

“Now who is the romantic?” Matt laughed, descending the ladder. 

Time to get to work.

Matt walked down the ramp and assembled the group. 

“Okay guys bring it in! Everyone up! Lets go! Leadership team on me!” he shouted. 

It took them a while to get moving this time. It was morning, and last night was pretty wild for most of them. Octavia was one of the first to arrive. 

“Are you okay Clarke?” Octavia asked. 

“Yes, I’m fine thanks. I’m sorry I ran off last night. I just..I just got cold feet. You didn’t scare me or anything,” Clarke whispered. 

Octavia just nodded, which Matt was thankful for, he really didn’t want to hear anymore. Harper and Monty came up, looking spry, followed by Bellamy, then Miller. Bellamy made eye contact with Clarke and she couldn’t hold it, but Bellamy didn’t press it. Takes them in, sends them out. No questions asked. If anything happened, neither of them was going to mention it. 

“Okay, that looks like everyone. Okay, I hope you all had a good night, but now its time to start the killing. The grounders are attacking tonight, and we have to be ready. Jasper, Miller, and Harper will lay the minefield, all around the camp, but focus on the north and south gates, and the paths leading up to them. Monty, assemble your walkie talkies. Raven, make clips of ammo, some with just 5 bullets, the rest with max capacity. The rest of you, dig foxholes and set up firing positions. Bellamy and I will be going over the actual plan soon. The Ark is coming down tonight, but at best it will serve as a mere distraction. Anyone got anything? Does everyone have a weapon?” Matt finished. 

He was met with silence, it was still morning, so he figured it was a combination of fear and fatigue. 

“Okay then, everybody get to work!” he broke them up. They all went their separate ways, and Matt slowly walked Raven to her tent, thinking carefully about what he wanted to say to her. 

Sensing his reservations, she prodded him. “What is it Matt?”

“Raven, listen. I know that people love to look back on their past and think about the things they would do differently to take their pain away, and I know Clarke’s scenario sounded nice, but I wouldn’t choose it. I’m glad we are together. Would I change things? Sure. But it wouldn’t affect us. I would still choose to be right here with you,” Matt whispered. 

“Oh my God Matt get inside the tent,” she whispered back. Matt entered the tent and let her crawl off of him, and she rolled over and pulled him in to kiss him. “Matt, I know we are moving at hyper speed, but..I do love you. I love you Matt.”

“I love you too Raven. Lets survive today, and we can slow things down, think about our futures. Besides, I don’t honestly think we are moving as fast as some of these kids, they have been at it since their first night down here,” Matt smiled. “Anyways, lets focus, we do have to survive in order to be together.”

“So, clips with 5 rounds? How many? And why just 5 rounds?” Raven asked. 

“The 5 round clips are for the kids that are extremely jumpy, Monroe and Stuart just to name two. They are gonna burn through the ammo real quick, the grounders know that, we know it, so let's take steps to overcome it. Bellamy, Miller, Harper and I will carry extra clips for them. You, Clarke and Monty will be in the drop ship with the grenades. We will go over the rest with the leadership team later. I’m gonna run, you good here?” Matt finished. 

“Yeah, I got it. See you later Matt,” Raven replied. 

Matt exited her tent and Bellamy and Clarke were walking up to him. 

“Hey guys, whats up?” Matt greeted them.

“You didn’t give Clarke anything to do and Spacewalker is circling. That guy doesn’t know how to move on it seems,” Bellamy observed. 

Matt shrugged, “He is an idiot, that's all there is to it. I didn’t give Clarke anything to do because the three of us are going to come up with a battle strategy to survive tonight. Let's head to the dropship.”

They walked together in silence, Clarke staying close in between them. Matt wanted to say something but he thought it best not to, Bellamy didn’t seem to have a care in the world about the ongoing drama. His philosophy remained on solid ground, but Matt was fine with his relationship status. He had come a long way since Jason and Harper. Heading up the dropship ramp, Monty greeted them. 

“Hey guys, before I disable the radio, Jaha is on the line, wanting to talk to Matt about Wells. Sorry, there was no good way to break that news,” Monty said. 

“Ahh damnit!” Matt let out a deep sigh. 

“I’m out! Call me when you are done, I’ll be assisting with the minefield,” Bellamy deadpanned, heading down the ramp, Monty followed him. Only Clarke remained. 

“We will do it together, okay?” Clarke whispered. 

“Yeah. Okay. Thanks Clarke. He does deserve to know, and this is literally his last opportunity, so let's just get it over with,” Matt sighed. “That doesn’t mean it's not going to suck.”

The two of them sat down at the table, Matt setting his sword down next to him, and connected the video feed. They were greeted by the Chancellor and Abby.

“Hello Matt, Clarke. Matt? Do you ever put a shirt on?” Abby asked. 

“I’ll be honest Abby, I haven’t seen a shirt in a few days.” Matt sighed. 

“Well, I see you and Clarke have gotten back together, so that's good,” Abby observed. 

Clarke had taken Matt’s arm but quickly let go of it, clearing her throat. 

“Alright alright, Chancellor, you want to hear about what happened to Wells right? I told you are entitled to hear the story, and I meant it.” Matt started. 

“Before that Matt, how are things going down there? Kane told me the situation was desperate, and considering you spoke to him, I tend to believe him.”

Matt sighed, “I expect every single one of us to die tonight. We will take a lot of grounders with us, but we only have 78 people, and they have thousands. There is nothing we can do. So Abby, whatever you have left to say to Clarke, better get it over with.” 

“Wait Matt, are you serious?” Abby asked. 

“Yeah Abby! I am. We had our fun last night, the last night of our lives, and now we are preparing to die. I really don’t want to go over this again. So can we please get on with it?” Matt sighed. 

Clarke took his arm again, “Matt, let me talk for a while, okay?” 

Matt nodded and Clarke broke the situation down for them, Abby was on the verge of tears and Jaha just had a look on his face that told Matt he was reflecting on his failures, which there were plenty of. It was as if every conversation Clarke had with her mom was their first conversation ever, with Abby completely forgetting all of the things that had happened to them the previous nine days, despite having been told about it, repeatedly. Matt didn’t understand how Clarke could deal with such a foolish mom, which made him think of his mom, which of course, was not what he wanted to be thinking about right now. 

Abby was starting to ask another question before Matt cut in, “That's enough for now okay? Let's talk about Wells, then you guys can talk to Clarke as long as you want, then we are signing off, permanently. We need the radio to make short wave radios. And Clarke and I need to be visible to keep morale up.” 

Matt began the story, starting with Wells’ struggle to fit in, touching on Charlotte’s nightmares, Clarke bonding with her, Bellamy bonding with her, Matt himself dismissing her outright, Murphy’s unfortunate involvement, Charlotte doing the deed, the investigation, the shocking results, and the fallout, including Matt’s utter failure to make any time for Charlotte’s rehabilitation, ceding that role to Bellamy Blake. Clarke held onto his arm the whole time, and by the end Abby was in actual tears and Jaha looked devastated. Matt was sympathetic, but there was one last thing he needed to tell Jaha. 

“Listen Chancellor, I am truly sorry about Wells, but you sent him down here when you shouldn’t have, and more importantly, you sent a 12 year old orphan down here to die. This is no place for a child, and that failure is on you and the Council. Which, should I survive tonight, my first act will be to dissolve and reform said Council. Now, do you have any final thoughts or questions before I sign off and leave Clarke with her mom?” 

“No Matt, thank you for telling me the truth. I only have a final request for you. Please survive tonight, and please take care of our people, do better than I did. May we meet again,” Jaha finished. 

“May we meet again, Chancellor Jaha,” Matt signed off and stood up, taking his sword in hand. “I’ll be outside if you need me Clarke,” he whispered to her. She nodded as he walked down the ramp. Looking for Bellamy, he waved him over. 

Bellamy ran over to him. “How did that go?” 

“As rough as you would expect, I’m going to see Raven, wait for Clarke okay? She should be out soon,” Matt sighed. 

“Copy that,” Bellamy replied. 

Matt hustled over to Raven’s tent, not even bothering with his traditional greeting, but he did manage to speak first. 

“Hey,” he whispered. 

Raven turned around, surprised. “Hey Matt, is everything okay?”

Matt flopped down next to her. “No, I just talked to Jaha and Abby about what happened with Wells. It was pretty shitty. Clarke is finishing up with her mom now, I left Bellamy over there for her, I..I wanted to see you,” he sighed. 

Raven set the ammo down and crawled over to him, laying in his arms. She understood the pressure was different for him, and that he was trying to not close himself off. “My ass still hurts every moment, you know that right?” she whispered. 

“Yeah, maybe the pain will go away once I behead Murphy,” he snorted. 

“You think I want that?” Raven asked him.

“The two kids that he shot in the head want that. I want it. It's happening,” Matt said flatly. 

“Yeah but do I want it?” Raven pressed. 

“I don’t know, no, okay. Probably not,” Matt sighed. 

“He shot me in the ass. That's not an executable offense in my book,” Raven whispered. 

“Fortunately, shooting two people in the head is,” Matt retorted. 

“Yeah, but I don’t think you should just kill him on sight. You didn’t kill Charlotte immediately after she confessed. Murphy deserves a fair trial,” Raven pressed. 

Matt sighed, “You are supposed to be on my side on this.” 

“Matt. I’ll be on your side, when you are on the right side. Promise me you will rescind your kill order, hold off on killing Murphy, and give him a fair trial,” Raven pressed. 

Matt sat in silence. Raven was right, he just didn’t want to admit it. 

“Stop pouting, and promise me,” Raven finished. 

Matt let out a deep sigh. “Okay, you are right. As usual. I promise,” he finished. 

“Good. Now get out of here, I have work to do, and so do you. Tomorrow after we survive? More sex.” 

Matt stood and shook his head. “I still am not used to how casual and direct you are about that topic.” 

“Like I said Matt, we are going at hyper speed, but compared to the rest of the camp, we are moving at a snail’s pace. Once we link up with the Ark, we will slow down. But I am counting on a window between the battle and that moment,” Raven laughed. 

“Raven..” Matt tried. 

She held up her hand, “Not a word, we are surviving. Now go,” she waved him out. 

Matt left, feeling a lot better, Raven’s strategy had worked, despite his utter ignorance of it. Clarke had come down the ramp and was with Bellamy, they waved him over. He headed their way. 

“Doing alright?” Bellamy asked. 

“Yeah, Raven suggested a different approach, so, I’m rescinding the kill order on Murphy. If we find him, we put him on trial,” Matt sighed. 

“That's the right thing to do, Matt,” Clarke said.

“What? He killed two of our people, he is guilty,” Bellamy shot back. 

“I agree Bellamy, but we can’t pick and choose when we want to use a fair justice system. We put him on trial, like Matt said,” Clarke pressed. 

“Like Raven said actually, listen, the girls are right. Capture Murphy alive if you can. He should be unarmed. Don’t shoot him. Let's move on to more important matters,” Matt sighed. 

“We should check on Monty, he should have the radios up and running,” Bellamy suggested. 

They headed up the ramp, where Monty was finishing up the radios. “Hey guys, just about done, lets test them out,” he offered. 

“Good work Monty, how many do you have?” Matt asked. 

“Three,” Monty replied. 

“That's perfect, considering we will have 3 main positions tonight, one for each,” Bellamy said. 

“ Testing.”  Matt tried the radio, as the other two burst to life with his voice. 

“Working,”  Clarke responded with a smile.

“Working,”  Bellamy finished. All three radios were up and running. “We should try the range on them. I’ll give one to Raven, and one to Miller on the South Wall, that's the furthest point away. You guys stay here,” Bellamy said, heading out. 

“That's really good work Monty, how are things with you otherwise?” Matt asked him. 

“I’m good, I said my goodbyes to my parents yesterday, it was rough, but they believe in us. Last night with Harper was..interesting. She is a creative girl,” Monty replied. 

“Needless to say their creative minds were running wild last night,” Matt laughed. 

“How are things with you Clarke?” Monty asked. 

“Oh, I’m good, thanks for asking. Um, single and not really looking?” Clarke stammered. 

“Oh, so you and Raven aren’t..” Monty started.

“NO Monty. No,” Clarke cut him off. “Raven and Matt are together. I was just..there.” 

“Clarke will be okay Monty, she is doing a lot better than she was two days ago, thats for sure. She just needs some time to herself,” Matt tried to clean up for her. 

“Can you guys hear me?”  Raven asked on the radio. 

“Loud and clear Raven. How is that ass feeling?”  Matt laughed. 

“Want to bleed some more huh Matt?”  Raven shot back. 

Matt felt his lip, it was still bruised from where Clarke bit him. Looking at Clarke, he remained silent with a smile. 

“Yo yo yo, this is the South gate, are you guys receiving me?”  Miller’s voice came over the radio. 

“Loud and clear Miller, bring it in leadership team, its time to go over the plan,”  Matt responded. 

“Uh, I can’t bring it in, you have to come get me, Matt,”  Raven pressed. 

“On my way Mecha Station,”  Matt laughed. “Come on Clarke, lets go get Raven.” 

They headed down the ramp, Matt wanted to check in on her one last time. “You uh, you had fun last night right Clarke? You holding up okay?”

“Yeah Matt, last night and this morning,” Clarke replied with a smile. 

“You being straight with me? Not just putting on an act?” Matt pressed. 

“I am Matt. You and Raven really helped me, and I appreciate it. Did you think I looked hot last night, by the way?” Clarke asked nonchalantly. 

“From what I saw yeah, you looked like you were on fire. Listen, I realize last night will never happen again, but I meant what I said, you will always be welcome in our sleeping bag, and nothing will be expected. It's a safe haven for you,” Matt finished. 

“Thanks Matt. I’m good for now, let's just focus on surviving. And then afterwards, well, here we are,” Clarke smiled, motioning to the tent. 

Matt entered Raven’s tent as Clarke waited outside, laid down and let Raven crawl on him. Exiting, he waved at Bellamy and his team, as they were coming in from the South Gate. “Guys, let's get the ammo! Clarke, help them.” 

“Right,” replied Clarke, heading into the tent. They grabbed all the ammo clips, and walked back to the drop ship. “Let's go back for the grenades,” Clarke suggested. 

“Yeah, good idea,” Matt waved them out as he let Raven dismount onto the table. He sat down next to her and Monty and let out another sigh. 

Monty could sense where Matt’s head was at, and he cut him off, “This plan is going to keep us all alive Matt, then we regroup with the Ark,” he pressed. 

Matt just nodded. “I hope so, Monty. But we are going to lose people, for sure.”

“All we can do is fight as hard as we can and win,” Monty kept pressing. 

Matt nodded as the others came up the ramp and set the grenades down. There were about fifteen of them. 

“Okay, how did it go with the minefield?” Matt started. 

“Mined the path leading up to the North gate and South gate, ten mines on each side. Should do a lot of damage. They probably don’t even know what a mine is,” Miller responded. 

“Good work, now lets go over the actual strategy. Bellamy?” Matt motioned to Bellamy to take over. Bellamy placed a map of the camp down on top of Raven, she protested but let it go. 

“I’ll be at the North Gate, with Harper and Miller, a bunch of other gunners. We pass out the 5 round clips first, they will be jumpy and use them up quick, then we slowly pass out the full clips. We have about 300 rounds, so we can do a lot of damage. I expect the fighting to be the most intense at the North Gate, the South Gate is on top of a hill, they won’t want to run up it. It's a killing zone,” Bellamy finished. 

“I’ll be at the South Gate, with Monroe and Stuart, a couple of other gunners. They are the most scared, I want to rally them. Hold them off as long as we can, then if they breach the gates, use grenades to drive them back, reinforce our position with reserves from the dropship,” Matt pointed. 

“That's where I will be, directing traffic. If one of the gates falls, everyone fall back and use grenades, and send in the reserves to reinforce it. Keep them out as long as we can,” Clarke sighed. 

“If both gates fall, and we have to fall back inside the dropship, that's where Raven comes in,” Matt grinned.

“Bring them in close, I’ll cook them real good,” Raven smiled. 

“How?” Harper asked. 

“Blasting off, I’ve rigged the wiring, hit the switch, fire the rockets,” Raven smiled. 

“Barbecue grounder, I like it,” Bellamy finished. 

“Where do you want me?” Monty asked. 

“With Clarke at the dropship, two leaders per hot zone,” Matt answered. 

“What about you Matt? You are on your own at the South Gate,” Harper pointed out. 

“Yeah, listen. I’m going to be a target, Anya knows I am the warchief of sorts, once they figure out my position, they are going to go all out trying to kill me. Once the gate falls, I’ll draw them in, kill as many as I can...” Matt tried. 

“Nope,” Miller cut him off. 

“Not happening,” Monty also. 

“Shut the fuck up Matt,” Harper next. 

“You are not sacrificing yourself Matt, that is not going to happen,” Bellamy finished for them all. 

“Clarke? Slap him,” Raven commanded. 

“What?” Matt stammered as he looked at Clarke, who did slap him violently. 

“OW!” Matt responded, holding his cheek. “What was that for?” 

“You’re being an idiot!” Raven shouted at him. 

“Harper, you are with Matt at the South Gate, end of story,” Bellamy waved Matt off. “Keep in communication as much as you can, when all else fails, fall back to the drop ship. Get the noncombatants inside now, check everyone’s ammo, weapons. Radio if you need anything. Let's move,” Bellamy waved them out. 

“Bellamy, move Charlotte upstairs as well. Make sure she is okay,” Matt finished. 

“Good idea, I’ll do that now, you start making the rounds. What do you want to do with the Spacewalker?” Bellamy asked. 

“Beats me. He is useless at all things,” Matt threw his hands in the air. 

“Clarke,” Raven threatened. Clarke stared Matt down. 

“Fine, give him a gun, throw him in a foxhole at the North Wall. I’m not babysitting him,” Matt relented. Miller handed Matt a gun, with several clips of ammo, which he would pass out as needed. “Thanks Miller, lets go Harper.” 

“ Major Harper!” she snapped at him. 

“Keep it up and I will demote you, let's move,” Matt laughed. 

Matt and Harper walked down the ramp and headed for the South Gate. They didn’t get far before Harper started in on him. 

“What the hell was that Matt? You are just gonna die and abandon us all?” Harper pressed. 

“No! Listen, that's not what I meant...” Matt tried. 

“It sure sounded like that! As if anyone, specifically, me, would let that happen!” Harper snapped at him. “You just wanted to get slapped!”

Matt just shook his head. “Can we please talk about anything else?” 

“Okay, sure. Lets change the topic. I heard it took two women to replace me in your bed last night, how was that?” she pressed. 

“Uh, I decline to answer because I don’t want to get slapped anymore?” Matt tried. 

Harper just burst out laughing. “I’m just teasing you. I’m happy for you Matt. But you have to tell me, who is the better kisser between the three of us?” 

“Oh, that's easy. It's you Major. You are an amazing kisser, wow. You should give them lessons. When you had me pinned down, holding onto my leg, that was the best feeling. We should have a contest after this, I’ll be the judge and—ahh!” Matt was interrupted by Harper’s slap. 

“Nope! You were doing just fine until that last bit. Who knew you were so slappable?” Harper laughed. “But really Matt, I am happy for you and Raven, you both look so good together. I had never seen you that happy before. I know I’ve only known you for ten days, but it feels like years.” 

“It does feel like years, doesn’t it? I wish it was years,” Matt sighed. “Don’t worry Harper, I will have you back in Monty’s arms by morning,” he finished as they arrived at the gate. 

“Whats up Monroe, Stuart? You guys doing okay?” Matt greeted them. They were hunkered down in their foxholes, scared as hell, but they pretended to put on a good show. 

“Uh yeah Matt. Hey. We are good. I’m good,” Stuart stammered. 

“Yeah, I can see you both are scared, that's why I had you placed over here, it's a high ground, and the fighting likely won’t be as intense, although they will get to us eventually. Let me see your weapons,” Matt replied. 

He took Monroe’s gun, ejected the clip and replaced it with the 5 rounder, then did the same with Stuart. “Okay, you guys are good to go, don’t worry, Major Harper and I have your backs, we won’t let anything happen to you. Let the landmines do their work first, you don’t even have to shoot right away. Cool?” Matt finished. 

They both nodded, feeling a little better. “Remember, let Harper and I take the first shots, okay? You guys can just take it easy at the beginning. Now relax, we still got some time,” Matt assured them. 

“We got movement in the North woods. Looks like parallels, hold your fire. Let the landmines do their work. Nobody shoot,”  Bellamy’s voice came over the radio. 

“Maybe not. Okay, Stuart, get in Harper’s foxhole, I will be with Monroe. Keep an eye out. Don’t fire, just say ‘Contact,” okay? Remember, I have killed grounders before, they can die, don’t be scared,” Matt pressed. 

Monroe was scared out of her mind, Matt placed his hand on her shoulder, bringing her down. “Monroe, lower your weapon. You don’t need it to use your eyes.” Her breathing slowed down, and she lowered her gun. 

They heard some explosions to the north. “See? That's the sound of grounders dying. Look there, there they go, running parallels, trying to scare you,” Matt pointed, as the grounders were running in front of them. “Looks like five of them, unarmed, moving fast, whoops...” he was interrupted as one stepped on a landmine, blowing his body into the air with severed limbs. “Dead,” Matt grinned. 

Monroe and Stuart instantly felt better at the sight of that grounder dying, as more explosions rang off to the north. 

“Talk to me Bellamy,” Matt pressed. 

Shots began to ring out, in quick succession, scared kids. More shots now, couple more explosions. 

“Contact!” Monroe shouted, raising her weapon. 

“Wait!” Matt urged her, seeing some grounders approaching slowly, wary of landmines, but for some reason, forgetting about the guns. 

“Harper, take the one on the right!” Matt shouted, as he raised his rifle and shot the one on the left in the head. Harper hit the one on the right with two shots, killing him. 

The shots were a lot more frequent at the North Gate, he could hear kids screaming. 

“They are everywhere, we need to pull back and use the grenades to drive them back!”  Bellamy shouted on the radio. 

“Then do it! We are ready!”  Clarke shouted back. 

More grounders were approaching the South Gate, running at them this time. Monroe fired off a few rounds, hitting one of them, Stuart did as well, hitting his own grounder. The landmines took care of two more of them, and Matt finished off the last one. Quiet again. 

He heard the grenade explosions going off behind him, but focused on his task. “Monroe change clips, here is another! Harper! Change Stuart’s ammo, they are ready!” 

More grounders were running at them, trying to shoot arrows but Matt saw them and shot one while ducking the arrows. More landmines went off in front of them as grounders flew into the air. “Open fire! Drive them back!” Matt shouted, as his team opened fire. 

The grounders ran away from them, Matt shot another one in the back and let the rest go. 

“How is the North Gate?”  Matt demanded. 

“The grenades drove them back, but their entire force is out there, it's only a matter of time before they overwhelm us!”  Miller shouted. 

“We know that! We have a plan in place, follow it! Reinforce the North Gate using the drop ship, and send one more person to the South Gate!”  Matt responded. 

The shooting at the North Gate was intensifying, and the grounders mounted another charge at the South Gate. 

“Here they come!” Monroe shouted. 

“Hold your fire until they get closer!” Harper shouted. 

Another landmine blew, taking out several grounders, and the South firing line opened up again, cutting down the charging grounders. A kid from the dropship came running up, and before Matt could shout at him to get down he was hit right in the eye with an arrow, falling down dead. 

“Oh my God!” Monroe shrieked. 

“Steady Monroe, just stay down and that won’t happen to you!” Matt put his hand on her shoulder again, she was shaking. “Listen, you are okay, keep shooting, we are winning.” 

The North Gate is overrun again, use grenades!”  Bellamy shouted over the radio. 

They heard the explosions going off, but it sounded a lot worse over there. 

“Something is happening out there! They are distracted by something! I don’t know what!”  Bellamy shouted again. 

At that exact moment, they heard a sonic boom in the sky, the entire battlefield stopped to look up, as first they saw a dropship coming down, parachutes deploying, much closer to them this time, but nowhere near close enough. Then, the Ark itself. It broke apart, remnants of it falling to the Earth, then the stations themselves, some firing landing rockets, others not. 

“Wow,” Matt whispered. His distraction ended when a grounder leapt over the wall, coming at them, Matt jumped out of his foxhole to meet him, leaving his gun and drawing his sword. 

“Its about time you savages got here, I have been so fucking bored!” Matt hissed as he quickly parried the incoming sword attack and delivered a swift side kick to the grounder’s jaw. The grounder went down and Matt quickly drove his sword through his chest. 

The North Gate is completely gone, they ripped it down!”  Miller shouted on the radio. 

“We only have three grenades left, fall back!”  Clarke screamed. 

“Okay, everybody back to the dropship! Fall back! No point in holding the South Gate if the North falls, move! Harper with me! We are reinforcing the North Gate!” Matt shouted as he picked up his rifle and checked the clip. Empty. Dumping it he ran to the North Gate with Harper. 

Upon arriving the grounders were swarming. Matt saw Bellamy struggling with a relatively scary looking grounder, and before springing into action he yelled out,”Harper get to the dropship, I’m going to save Bellamy and we are right behind you! GO!” 

“Matt, you better be right behind me!!” Harper screamed as she ran. 

Matt saw all the grounders and figured he probably wouldn’t be, but he was absolutely not going to let Bellamy die. He ran to the ugly grounder and deflected his blade from killing Bellamy, and shoulder charged him backwards. 

The two squared off as Bellamy struggled to get to his feet, fighting off another incoming grounder. 

“You are the warchief, the one they call Matt,” the grounder hissed. 

“Mostly accurate, who are you supposed to be?” Matt challenged. 

“I’m Tristan, the one sent to end your people.” 

“Well let me welcome you Tristan, to the end of your life,” Matt grinned. He charged at him, sword raised as the two exchanged several blows, their blades singing amongst the chaos. 

“Unlike the rest of your people, you fight with courage and tenacity, I respect that,” Tristan hissed. 

“You all die the same to me,” Matt kept laughing. The adrenaline was kicking in, and Matt had figured out their fighting style. Excellent swordsmen, excellent upper body strength, endurance, stamina. But no skills with their legs. No defense to kicks. It was a dream come true for Matt. 

“LETS DO THIS!” Matt yelled out as he charged again, feinting with his sword and hitting Tristan in the face with a left hook. Tristan gave some ground, but not too much, as he came back towards Matt, sword in the air, smiling, wide open. Matt hit him with a vicious spinning roundhouse to the jaw, this time making Tristan stumble back in shock. Matt came forward again with a sidekick to the nose, shattering it as Tristan fell to the ground. 

“WOOO! Is this the LIMIT of your STRENGTH!” Matt howled. “You are all going to die tonight!” 

Tristan stood, dazed, blood pouring from his mouth and nose, shocked from the force of the blows he had suffered. But didn’t back down, coming at Matt one last time, sword raised, slowly, much too slowly. Matt spun again, kicking the sword away and spinning one more time, this time with his sword, as he severed Tristan’s head from his body. 

“DEAD! YOUR LEADER IS DEAD! FLEE WHILE YOU CAN!” Matt howled into the night. 

The grounders took notice of Matt’s victory, unsure of what to do, when suddenly Anya appeared from the South Gate, and rallied them towards the dropship, as the ramp was closing. The grounder army surged forward to the dropship, leaving Matt a clear path of escape, but that was the furthest thing from his mind. 

Suddenly Bellamy appeared and grabbed him, “Lets go Matt! MATT! We have to run, they are going to blast off! Come on!!” 

Refocusing, Matt sheathed his own sword and picked up Tristan’s, and ran with Bellamy into the woods, grounders were around them, but they ignored each other, fixated on their mission. Suddenly a grounder appeared in front of Matt and they stumbled to the ground, Bellamy had gotten too far away to notice. Matt thought he saw Finn running away as well, but he couldn’t tell. The grounder wanted to fight, and Matt was fine with it. 

Suddenly, the dropship fired its engines, engulfing the grounder army and the trees around Matt. He stumbled away, barely escaping the inferno, struggling to breathe. His grounder opponent was actually burning, as he chased after Matt, grabbing him and screaming. Matt tried to push him off but the grounder brought them both to the ground. Unable to breathe, choking on the smoke, Matt took one last look at the sky, before losing consciousness. 


End file.
